


Love Isn't A Void

by JessForLife



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-03-26 13:46:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13859001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessForLife/pseuds/JessForLife
Summary: Your family has had a connection to the outsider for some time now, your grandmother was the infamous "unknown woman". What will happen when you get chosen to bare the outsiders mark, how will it affect you or the people around you. The world you live in has been in and out of chaos for most of your life and now you find yourself falling for the man who some think may have started it all.This story is as close to the low chaos plot of the first two games as I could write it, you're a descendant of the character the unknown woman the diary that depicts her belonged to your father. The story may have brief flashbacks but the present time as of the first chapter is a few days after Emily retakes the throne in the second game in the month of nets. The only thing that really definitely does not stick to the story (besides you) is the outsiders age I made him 20 because I'd feel weird if he was his real age anyways this story will cover sensitive topics there's a reason it's explicit. THERE WILL BE SPOILERS AND OBVIOUSLY I DON'T OWN DISHONORED you're good to go c:





	1. Somewhere Else

**Author's Note:**

> You know the drill YN= your name EC=eye color and yadayadayada if you want an assigned name it's Linet I personally connect better when I can plug in my own name and stuff okay all formalities are out of the way, Let's get started c:

I never met my grandmother, Ismay, but she was beautiful and in a time of so much struggle she was brave, maybe that’s why you chose her, the unknown woman.. The year was 1803 when you marked her and only a few months later in the month of High Cold my father, Dunstan, was born. My father never knew his father and in his diary he wrote of the locks my grandmother could pick in order to break into abandoned homes for shelter or into the homes of the rich for food and other resources, because of you my grandmother was able to provide for my father. My mother Aline worked for the royal family like her mother and grandmother before her, she was the personal maid and even midwife of Jessamine, knowing her since she was very young, Jessamine considered my mother her friend. My mother met my father one day while running errands for the queen and they fell in love right away, around the same time Corvo and Jessamine did. My mother and Jessamine would skip down the halls of the castle in love and happy, only they knew of the others secret. For 9 years my parents were happy, and then overseers stormed my father’s house, they found his journal which depicted my grandmother’s power and his wish to one day also find the void, they publicly executed him and at the execution Jessamine accompanied my mother and was able to retrieve his journal for her and for me who my mother was carrying as she watched my father be publicly killed along with other so called “heretics”. Jessamine never told a soul who my real father was, never questioned his execution or the contents of the journal; in return my mother never told anyone about Jessamine and Corvo and how he was the princess’s father. 

I don’t remember much of the day Jessamine was killed and Emily kidnapped I was only 5 I remember only what Isolda told me and what I vaguely remember, Emily loved playing with me but the moment Corvo arrived she excused herself and ran to see him, my mother meanwhile was preparing Jessamine’s lunch and Isolda who was another young maid at the castle only 16 at the time held me, while also watching my mother trying to learn the trade. My mother exited the maid quarters to bring Jessamine her lunch, me and Isolda, waited for my mother or Emily’s return. Minutes past and my mother runs into the kitchen frantically she closes the door behind her and hands me a book from her apron and all the coins in her pockets she grabs food and wraps it in cloth and gives it to Isolda who was now panicking, screams are heard outside and loud bangs coming closer. My mother begins composing herself as she begins to shove the two of us towards the tiny garbage chute “Isolda listen to me go down the chute head for the sewers and never tell anyone where you’re from, never come back here, go now and take care of eachother. I love you.” she says kissing my forehead and squeezing us both just before she pushes us into the chute, on our way down Isolda and I hugged each other as we heard someone break the door and a single gunshot go off. 

Isolda did as she was told we ran through the sewers avoiding rats and keeping quiet, when Isolda believed we were far enough away from the castle we exited the sewers, Isolda never once letting me or herself look back at the castle. We walked for hours before we snuck on a boat headed back to the distillery district when we arrived Isolda lied about her age to get a job at the golden cat she would leave me in an abandoned apartment next to the cat and like that she fed us. When Emily arrived at the cat, being kept prisoner there, Isolda kept her company and would give up her rations for her, Isolda was the one who contacted the so called loyalist about the princess’s whereabouts by spreading the news until someone brought the news all the way back to Corvo. When Corvo came to rescue her he came and left in a blink she didn’t even get to say goodbye for the longest time we thought the madam sold her off or moved her after catching wind of the plan, that was until Emily returned back to the throne some months later. Isolda always supported us on her own until I turned 18 and also joined her, but for as long as I could remember she was the one and only one to watch out for me after I lost my mother, she could have easily abandoned me in the sewers but she never gave up.

Present Day

“Isolda, please you do this every year it’s not a big deal, I’m turning 19, nothing will change.” you said, while trying to discourage Isolda from flipping your shared room apart with her cleaning and redecorating “Not a big deal? Not a big deal? It’s a huge deal 18 was a big year but 19 is the year you finally get used to being 18 and it’ll be your one year anniversary of you living and working at the cat. We have our own room together with separate beds, no more run down apartment and you’re just one of the housemaids of the cat you don’t even need to deal with the really horrible customers of the cat, for the most part. So it’s a big deal!” Isolda practically yells while finally locating the bag of your special things you both hide so well sometimes you both can’t find it. “Here take this money I’ve saved up extra tips just for tomorrow, so go into town and get yourself something nice and don’t think it’s because I haven’t found you a gift because I have, I’ll give it to you at exactly midnight. I hope you’ll like it.” “You know I’ll love it whatever it is, I haven’t seen it yet but thank you” you say while pulling Isolda into a tight hug “It’s been a blessing to see you grow, I honestly believe you don’t need me anymore (YN), and I’m sorry I can’t go into town with you but one of my regulars asked to see me personally and you know how it is.” Isolda says not wanting to let you go “I know and don’t be crazy you’re like a sister to me.” You say letting her go “But I better get dressed because last year you practically kicked me out for not wanting to celebrate” you say putting on your clothes “And I’ll kick you out for sure this time if you don’t get out and go spoil yourself!” Isolda jokes pointing out the door and window as you walk out the room laughing. 

‘I was born in the middle of the month of Nets, the most boring sounding of all the months but this year I guess it’ll finally be lucky because just a few days ago Emily retook her throne from Delilah and she’s already planning on improving all the work they tried to destroy and much more.’ 

You walked out of the book store, you were in there so long you lost track of time, it had already gotten really late, not wanting to worry Isolda you decided to take the back alleyways back to the cat. You felt someone following you so you look back and you could faintly make someone out, they must have noticed you because they began walking towards you faster, you take off running but when you’re about to turn the corner you bump into a man who smelled like the old Distillery. “You’re the girl from the cat who thinks she’s too good to be a whore, you work there, I might as well show you what you should actually be doing there!” The man snarls throwing you face first into the ground and on your knees “Turn around” you hear and close your eyes already anticipating what he’ll do to you “Turn around” You feel a hand on your shoulder but realize the voice belongs to another man you begin to panic thinking he brought a friend when you realize you don’t hear anything, the usual noises of Dunwall are all gone. “Turn around, I won’t hurt you, let me help you.” The voice was deep and mysterious but in it’s own way comforting. You begin to turn your body but keep your eyes closed. “Trust me.” You slowly begin to open your eyes and come face to face with the man your grandmother did all those years ago. His pale skin, dark eyes, and black hair; he was handsome just like the Old granny rags would preach on the street when you were young. “Take my hand.” He says floating down on to the ground, you take his hand and he pulls you to your feet. “Do you know who I am?” “Of course my Grandmother, Ismay, you marked her, because of you she was able to provide for my father, they would have died without your mark. I owe you my life in a way.” “Ismay, one of the few people to ever receive my mark and not use it for their own personal gain or to achieve anything. All she wanted was to keep her little boy alive. The void regained some of its light when she died, but I felt her spirit cry out from somewhere in the void when your father died and yet it smiled once more the day you took your first breath almost 19 years ago. Ismay taught me something important and because of that I must repay her, take my mark, and use it to fight off your assailant.” He says putting his other hand on top of yours. You hesitate but nod your head “I accept your mark” and with those words you feel a rush of wind and your hand tingle, the rush of wind so powerful you have to close your eyes the last thing you see is the beginnings of a smile on his face “Use the mark.” . 

The moment you feel yourself exit the void you turn around and use your marked hand to push him off but a blast of wind exits your hands knocking him against a wall he goes limp on impact, you go and look at him ‘He was a vile human being who deserves death but I’m not sure if I wanted to be the one to do it.’ you begin to panic he’s not moving you remember what dead bodies looked like during the days of the plague you know he’s dead you grab your things and run back to the cat. 

You close the door of the bedroom behind you and are relieved that Isolda wasn’t done working yet. You leave your things on your bed and make your way to the bathrooms you fill a tub with the warmest water and get in, you feel dirty and vile. You see the mark it glows ‘This is what my father wanted to find, this is what helped my grandmother, and now I have it too.’ You exit the bath and wrap a bandage around your hand ‘Although Emily has banned the execution of “heretics” it hasn’t stopped the people who are so dead set in their opinions of the outsider being the cause of all the misfortunes experienced by us, I could be fired or worse killed if anyone sees this’ 

You return to your room and Isolda is sitting on her bed with a small box in her hand “Happy Birthday (YN), it’s officially your day, midnight came a few minutes ago.” She said getting up to hug you and handing you the present looking eager for you to open it “So the lady I got it from” she begins to explain as you unwrap the gift “said that it brings you closer to the spirits of those you’ve lost and to the void, there’s a tiny bone charm in there and it’s encapsulated in what’s supposed to be a tiny birds heart, she says the power of the void is what keeps it beating or something like that, but I just thought you’d like it and you can also wear it as a necklace, she also said it’s for good luck.” She takes the tiny heart out of the box and puts its chain around your neck “Do you like it?” She says looking worried you turn around and hug her, although a weird gift the thought behind it was pure and very of like Isolda “I love it, thank you.” You say making her smile “I’m so glad you like it, and if it’s so lucky I might buy myself one too, we could match.” Isolda says while striking a funny pose the rest of your night you laugh and talk, reminiscing and joking, you almost forget the events of earlier, but they were still there, and when Isolda went to take a bath you were left alone with those thoughts. You tried to forget them, you crawled into bed and closed your eyes, you feel the thump of the tiny heart beat in sync with yours against your chest, you fall asleep. 

Somewhere Else...

You wake up in the middle of the night the heart’s beating had accelerated and then come to a stop, you look over to Isolda’s bed she isn’t there, you get out of bed and when you enter the hallway, the hall has holes in it and the sky glows with no visible light source, it’s a color unlike one you’ve ever seen before, blues and purples, rocks floated above you like stars, and a whale swam in the sky: the void. ‘My father spent most of his life wondering if he’d ever see this place.’ you walked around the world that looked so much like the place you called home. You made your way to the balcony and looked out onto the view that looked so much like your world and yet wasn’t “Outsider, are you here I want to talk to you.” you say, your voice is the only thing you hear “I’m right here (YN).” he speaks in a calming voice beside you but you’re startled by hearing noise coming from someone other than you. He sat on the railing with ease, not worried that a fall from that height would kill any human, but he wasn’t human, or at least he hadn’t been for a very long time. His dark black hair, his pale skin, those eyes you felt so drawn to, you wondered what color they might have been at one point in time ‘Gosh is he handsome,’ you mentally scolded yourself for thinking such a thought but it was true, his style was somewhat dorky but in a dark and even sexy way and you found yourself smiling. While you’re busy looking at the way his coat looked on his body you suddenly come face to face with his eyes “Did you came all this way just to stare at me?” You jump “I’m sorry, you’re just breathtaking, kind of like the void, mesmerizing, I guess I can see what Granny Rags saw.” you say trying to compose yourself “Is that so?” he begins to move away from your face, you’re unable to read his expression “You’re the first to say that, 4,000 years and you’re the first to say it to my face, Granny Rags thought it but she never once told me herself, although flattery will get you nowhere (YN)” he says disappearing and appearing on the other side of the balcony letting his weight drop a little for a moment you panic and reach out to him, he begins to laugh, as he floats back up and onto the balcony “I forgot you could fly, and I wasn’t trying to flatter you I just wanted to explain myself” you snap and roll your eyes, which causes him to laugh even more “Everyone is always a little frighten their first time here, it takes them a few visits before they show their true colors but you and Ismay, both rolled your eyes on your first visit here, amazing.” you smile at the idea of being just like your grandmother “Can I ask you something?” you say looking at him, he leans against the railing and gestures for you to continue “Why didn’t you tell me the power would kill him?” “Does it matter he was going to kill you after he was done with you or worse find you and do it again, you wouldn’t have even been the first that day.” he says with his usual voice but you catch the hint of disgust on his face before it disappears, you look down at your hands, you didn’t like the feeling of killing someone but if it had to be someone you were glad it was that monster “I won’t kill anyone again. Not if I can help it.” you proclaim “That’s fine by me, I don’t expect you to do anything with your powers.” he says and you nod your head in agreement before realizing what he said “Powers? As in more than one?” he smiles “Follow me.” he says disappearing and appearing on another balcony, you imagine yourself beside him and you felt your mark glow as your body became one with the air around you before appearing beside him, you feel your feet wobble as you begin to feel lightheaded, he catches you before you fall. Even though you’re well supported you let your head fall against his chest, you were curious, you close your eyes and expect to hear a heartbeat but nothing comes when you open your eyes you see Isolda sleeping soundly in the bed across from yours.


	2. Void Walking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The non-consent warning on this story was for the last chapter (the scene before you got your powers), so I'm sorry if you wanted that for your relationship with the outsider but the way I'm writing him I just don't see him being like that. I don't think any other chapter will be that way, so yeah most of my warnings are either there for just in case or one time things, I just don't like feeling constricted or like my writing needs to be living up to anyone's fluff expectations so I tag for all the warnings just incase lol. That's all hope you guys like this chapter c:

“(YN) are you alright? You seem a bit out of it this morning.” Isolda says snapping you out of your daze “What? Yeah sorry it’s just being 19 you know.” You say quickly sitting up “What happened to your hand?” Isolda says reaching out to your bandaged hand “I got my hand caught on the back door when I came home yesterday.” You say stuttering on your obvious lie but Isolda either falls for it or is letting it go “Oh alright be more careful, and get dressed you’ve been acting like a drunken whaler this whole morning.” Isolda says trying to make light of the situation and throws you your work outfit, which is a normal servant outfit that is more skimpy but you don’t complain the job keeps you fed and you have it a lot easier than the other girls at the cat. “I have a meeting with the madam today about something so I won’t be going to breakfast with you but we’ll see each other later, for dinner.” Isolda says leaving you alone to finish dressing up. 

You walked into the lobby and grab a bite to eat “(YN) are you alright?” you turn around and see Galia one of the guards speaking in regards to your bandaged hand “Yes, Galia, don’t worry I just hurt my hand on the door.” you say more confident with your made up story “Alright but you can come to me if any of the patrons get too frisky with you.” Galia says patting you on the back before departing. You liked her but she didn’t seem to like her job. You had the feeling she found her job too tame but she kept you and the other girls safe, along with her partner Ronaldo but he spent most of his time joking with the courtesans. 

‘Now my job is simple: I clean the rooms after they are used, bring food out to the guest and courtesans, greet customers, set the steam levels, and stand there looking pretty. I’ll probably never need to truly “entertain” any guest like Isolda, unless there is a shortage of staff which hardly happens, since their job pays better, and it seems the world will never run out of street walkers and men who want to touch them. Also on the rare occasion that someone offers to pay specifically for me, I could be a courtesan but that’s never happened to me and Madam Steele has raised the prices of being with a servant much to high for any sane person to be willing to pay, unless the servant accepts and lowers the price but I have no intention in accepting such an offer for any amount of money.’ you continue making your rounds throughout the morning. When it’s time for your break you decide to head back to your room for a quick nap, you don’t bother to change since you know you’ll only have an hour to sleep.

You feel the heart begin to beat rapidly again and you wake up but the sun has set and the sounds of the world are all gone, you’re in the void again. You exit “your room” and begin down the hall and when you reach the stairs you begin using your teleportation power as you begin to disappear and reappear in different parts of the cat, you can’t help but feel liberated, the power makes you feel free, you smile and laugh enjoying yourself. Then you come to a stop when The Outsider stood in front of you “Hello (YN), how did you manage to get here without me calling for you?” He said with the slightest hint of amusement in his voice and on his face “I don’t know honestly, I just took a nap and ended up here, just like last night” he looks at you seemingly puzzled but he tried not to show it “Most people can’t enter the void without me calling them here, and you have some powers more than most who bare the mark but none that should extend your time here.” He says when suddenly he seems to have remembered something “May I see your necklace?” You don’t question how he knows about it but without taking it off you take it out from under your uniform and you let him hold it, the heart begins to beat faster “I see now, this bone charm allows you to void walk in your dreams and without being called here, it even allows you to stay here for longer periods of time. You may even be able to peer into the void when you’re awake, a special gift indeed.” He smiles and let’s go of it and he begins to teleport away but you teleport behind him, although you miscalculate and smash into his back. You’re afraid, not of what he’ll do but of what he may think or say, you don’t move. You feel his hand momentarily touch yours and then he teleports beside you “You could have just called out to me.” He says in his monotone voice “I’m sorry, I just you said I still had more powers and I wanted to talk to you more.” You say fiddling with your fingers, you begin to notice the beginnings of a smirk, he teleports closer to you and bends over and looks into your (EC) eyes with his. “That’s quite the interesting outfit you have on there.” He says never breaking eye contact with you. Although what you wear is more conservative than what the other girls wear, it’s not much better, you wear a black button up shirt that accentuates your chest and a short black skirt that you struggle to bend over in, and long socks that are held up by a garter. “I didn’t take you for a 4000 year old pervert.” You say trying to stand your ground but he begins to do that deep amused laugh of his “You were the one admiring me yesterday, it’s just interesting seeing your reaction to things. You’re very brave for talking to me like that but for how long? What makes you think you can speak to me like this?” You take a step back worried that he might just turn on you but something in you just isn’t afraid of him so you step up to him again, close enough to feel the energy coming off of him “I trust you, my grandmother did, and I trust her judgement.” something in you told you to reach out to him, you reach out with your unmarked hand and hold his hand in yours, you search his face for answers a sign of what he may be feeling but you see nothing, suddenly he begins to lean in, you shut your eyes and feel him by your ear “(YN).”

“(YN)! Wake up!” Isolda yells while hitting you with your own pillow “I know you normally nap during your break but you were really out of it just now. We have to finish up the rest of the day.” you finally shake the sleep off of you and get up, you look at Isolda’s face and under her happy demeanor you notice something bothering her “Isolda, are you alright?” she sits down on her bed “Nothing gets by you does it?” Isolda sighs and begins “Madam Steele says I’m getting too old, I don’t have as many request as the other girls or nearly as much as I used to, I’m turning 30 at the start of the next month, and yesterday the last of my regulars never showed up and today he was found dead in the back alleys. He was horrible but he paid well.” You try not to show it but you were sickened, the man you killed yesterday was Isolda’s regular. ‘The Outsider said I wouldn’t have been the first girl he hurt that day if I didn’t kill him’ “Isolda” you say going to her and hugging her tight “Don’t worry we’ll figure it out, I can become a courtesan like you were before and support us both.” “No, I can’t let you do that, I spent these last few years working as a courtesan so you’d never have to.” Isolda says while pushing away from your hug “Well Emily just regained the throne, these could be prosperous times, she’s already starting new programs for everyone.” “But for how long it seems that every few years Dunwall is being attacked and all the progress is undone.” Isolda snaps and rest her head in her hands “We have to believe it’ll be okay, we’ll figure it out.” You hug her again this time she hugs you just as hard “I hope so.” she says you feel her tears fall on your shoulder you look at your marked hand ‘My grandmother was able to provide for herself and my father, when the time comes I will use it to help you, Isolda. I promise’

The rest of the night went by somewhat quickly, even Isolda’s smile returned in the end all seemed well once again and after dinner you, Isolda, and the other girls began getting ready for bed in the baths, you relaxed in the warm water and when you finished you got up and unfogged the mirror but when you swiped at the mirror you came face to face with The Outsider “AHHH!” you scream and just before you fall on the ground you realized that he seemed just as surprised to see you. “Are you alright, (YN)?! Isolda and another courtesan run in worried “Yes! Sorry I just slipped.” you say not wanting to sound crazy by answering with the truth of what actually happened “Okay, well (YN), you should probably dry yourself and put on a towel when you get out of the bath.” Isolda and the other courtesan giggle handing you your towel, you snatch it and turn beet red realizing he probably saw you in your most vulnerable form. You wrap the towel around you and retreated to your room. 

You didn’t want to fall asleep not after all the things that had occured today, but you wanted to know about your other powers, or if he really knew that the man you killed would have hurt Isolda if you didn’t kill him. But then again you remembered that you held his hand earlier today also, and then just a few minutes ago you bared it all to him. You tossed and turned but finally decided to fall asleep, like always you felt the heart begin to beat rapidly and when it was done you opened your eyes to an all too familiar sight by now, but this time you decided to practice with your teleportation power and you went out of your voids bedroom window and went up until you reached the roof of the cat. You practiced teleporting and would occasionally use your powers of the wind to blast tiles off “Having fun?” His voice said behind you, it was now something you’ve grown fond of hearing, you turn around to face him “I’ll never be able to get used to this feeling.” you say teleporting beside him, you lay down on the roof and look up at the voids sky. “You knew he’d hurt my friend if I didn’t kill him?” you asked looking at him, he lays beside you and looks up at the void too “I saw his intentions, but even I can’t see the future, the void shows me all the possibilities that could come of something but I don’t know which will come true. The void is bigger then you or I, there are some things we aren’t meant to know or see.” he says closing his eyes you sit up and watch him, he looked almost human, maybe it was because of the way he looked in that moment, or after what he just told you but he just seemed closer to you than ever before, you decide to lay your head on his chest you look up and watch him open his eyes but he doesn’t look down at you, you wonder what he’s feeling,. ‘Did he see this happening?’

You stayed like that with him for awhile just laying on him, you didn’t wanna move or speak, you didn’t want the moment to end, you wanted to enjoy it for as long as you possibly could, but then you remembered the incident that happened earlier in the bathroom and you quickly hit his stomach and got up in a hurry “Did you appear in the mirror on purpose!? What did you see?!” You accuse him and watch as he grabs his stomach in pain “You can feel pain?” you say suddenly concerned that you may have been too rough with him “One question at a time please.” He slowly begins to get up as he tries to straighten himself out “Yes, I can feel pain, I can feel most things, but besides my mark none of my actions have any effect on the real world and none of your actions have any real effect on me, if you managed to scar me it would disappear and if I scarred you the same would happen. I’m not really here, this isn’t really me but it also is me.” he says finally catching the air the that you sucked out of him with that punch “Okay, well what about my other question?” You say while glaring daggers at him “I can see everyone on the earth at any time but I will never be visible to them unless they’re by my shrines. That bone charm around your neck, I told you it would allow you to peer into the void when awake but I don’t know why it automatically connected us both in that moment, I wasn’t watching you but then something called for me and suddenly you were there, I wasn’t given much of a chance to look away that was until you fell.” “You saw me fall!” You raise your marked hand at him and he quickly dodges the miny typhoon like winds you throw at him “No! After you fell I looked away I knew you wouldn’t approve of me watching.” he says trying to actually defend himself and then you notice something that surprises you even more, he’s turning red, and then you realize what just happened and you burst out laughing “What am I doing? I’m blasting winds at a 4000 year old god who gave me these powers and accusing him of being a peeping tom!” You say laughing you teleport beside him, sit down and pull on his hand so that he’ll sit down next to you, he sits and laughs awkwardly along with you, this only causes you to laugh harder “I really thought you were going to try to kill me which isn’t possible, not the way you were trying to do it but oh void would it have hurt.” He says scratching his head and laughing a little, you laugh too but then realize “You can die?” you say sounding much more sad than you expected to sound, he must have been surprised you picked up on that or maybe he noticed your sadness because he suddenly got serious “Well of course all things in this world can die, one day they’ll be nothing left but the void in front of us.” For the first time ever you were actually somewhat frightened by the void “Promise me not to die before me, I don’t have many friends, just you and Isolda.” You say resting your head on his shoulder, he begins to laugh a more warm and light hearted laugh “I wasn’t aware I needed permission to die, but I shall definitely try to live until you’re a 100.” He says still smiling “Just to spite you I’m going to live to 200 now.” You say and you both begin to laugh but you stop and look at him “I’m serious, promise me.” You stick up your pinky. He looks like he’s going to laugh again but he must have sensed that you really were serious and he takes your pinky in his “I promise.” 

You lay back down but he stays sitting up “You know I’ve never had a friend before. Even when I was a human, I was an outcast my mother died giving birth to me, from what I found out later on through the voids knowledge. I grew up thinking she abandoned me. I don’t recall my name or much else except living on the streets, until the cultist came for me, when they dragged me down the streets I felt nothing, it wouldn’t have been the first time I’d have been kicked or beaten without reason. To my surprise they adorned me and dressed me with fancy garments, for a moment the child in me thought they wanted to help me, they bathed and fed me, they even bowed to me. It was only until I was being put on the altar to be sacrificed that I began to scream, no one came, no one heard me. I tried struggling against the rope, I even bruised my wrist and caused them to bleed. I gave up, I went limp and on that alter I died and became what I am now, I was only a year older than you.” The smallest traces of anger adorned his face but they quickly disappeared he accepted what had happened to him but that didn’t make it better ‘He didn’t ask for this, no one deserves that’ you sat up and wrapped your arms around him and then you began to cry maybe for him and the pain he experienced or maybe for something else that was much more deeper and hard to explain but you ran your hands through his hair and held him. “I’m sorry I wish the world would have treated you more kindly. I wish things would have been different for you, better.” you cried into the side of his neck “Don’t cry for me, it’s alright, it was 4000 years ago, there isn’t anything anyone could have done if it hadn’t been me it would have been another. At least I had no one who would have missed me, I was just as insignificant as an alley rat.” he says and then he held you back. You stopped crying and gasped a little in surprise, which made him pullback but you met his hands halfway and wrapped them back around you. You both held each other and you realized how he wasn't warm but he wasn’t cold either, you noticed just how soft his hair and skin was, you even became aware of just how thin the fabric of your nightgown was, you could feel each individual finger on your back. Suddenly he wraps his arms around you more and he gives you a little squeeze, you wonder what he was thinking to trigger that response, you wanted to ask but you didn’t want to end the moment with a question. You just wanted to be with him more “It’ll be time for you to wake up soon, your friend is already waking up.” his voice is still deep but it sounded much more sweet. You knew you had to leave, you felt your body evaporating ‘I must be waking up.” You don’t want to say anything or look at him you just want to remember this feeling, you want to remember how his arms felt and how safe and at peace you were. You close your eyes and when they open, in your arms you see your covers, and you watch as Isolda is just getting out of bed.


	3. The Gift

After getting dressed you and Isolda head to the small dining hall for breakfast, you pass Galia on the way down, she smiles at both of you. When you’re far enough away Isolda whispers to you “What do you think of Galia she’s cute right?” You look back at Galia never really looking at her like that but Isolda whacks you on your head “Are you crazy what if she saw you, then she’d know we were talking about her.” You can’t help but giggle at this, Isolda has always been the hopeless romantic type and it was comforting to know that some things never changed. “I thought you liked Rinaldo?” You say thinking about her last crush from just a few months ago “Yes, but Rinaldo likes everyone.” She says pointing at his table you both look over and see that he’s surrounded by the majority of the courtesans and girl staff, you both laugh “Well I like Galia she’s cool, and she protects us all. She also seems to take her job seriously even though she obviously finds it boring. And well yeah I guess she’s pretty cute, less cocky about it unlike some people.” You say using your fork to point at Rinaldo’s table again, you both laugh. “Yeah, I think I’ll talk to her before I don’t get to see her anymore.” You were going to reassure Isolda but she’s already changed the subject “So what about you any interesting people in your life?” You turn slightly red at this which only causes her to continue “Ooooo tell me who are they? Do I know them? Do they work here? Are they from the town?” Isolda says getting more and more excited, you wanted to act like you didn’t know why you were turning red but you knew, whether you liked it or not there was one person in your dreams the last two nights “You don’t know him, and he’s not from around here.” You say looking down at the food on your plate “AH-I’m so excited! Okay so it’s a guy, well what does he look like? Is he a sailor? When did you meet?” Isolda is practically bouncing in her seat with excitement “I met him the night I went out and he’s just been around a lot, I’m not sure what exactly he does but he’s a bit of a know it all.” You say watching Isolda look at you practically begging you to continue, you begin recalling what he looks like “He’s kind of pale, his hair is average length and it’s a nice dark almost black brown, he dresses well mostly in black, and he has these stunning dark eyes.” Isolda begins squealing just before you take a drink from your cup you say “He’s beautiful, but most of all I really love talking to him and spending time with him, I think I’m starting to like him.” When you set your cup down on the other side of the table next to Isolda you see him, he looks surprised and you wanted to gasp but then you start choking on the drink that you didn’t get to swallow “(YN) are you okay?” Isolda says rushing to your side to pat your back, Galia and another courtesan get up to check on you too “She looks like she’s seen The Outsider, is she okay?” Galia says not realizing how spot on her metaphor is she looks at Isolda but the lights are so bright and everyone sounds like you’re underwater and suddenly you don’t remember when the lights went away and you can’t hear them or anything anymore.

You wake up in the dining room but it’s empty and dark ‘Did I really faint?’ You shake your head and get up from the floor, and you head up to the courtyard, you don’t know how much time you have, ‘Everyone is probably freaking out trying to get me to wake up’ so you call out “Hey!? Can we talk?” He appears in front of you but he’s quite this time and his expression is once again unreadable “Let me explain, I know what you heard, and I didn’t think you’d hear it, it’s not like I didn’t want you to eventually hear it or I don’t know I just didn’t want it to happen like that and then you were there.” You begin to feel the heart start beating and you disappearing “Screw it.” you teleport in front of him and notice his surprised face but you wrap your arms around him and kiss him, and then the heart begins beating faster than ever before and before anything else could happen you see a bright light and Isolda and Galia crouched down beside you “Oh thank goodness.” Madam Steele says approaching you “I thought I was about to have to call a doctor.” You smile and everyone begins to laugh earning a glare from Madam Steele.

You worked straight through the morning to late evening, you didn’t take your usual nap a part of you was nervous and you wanted to avoid your appointment with the void for as long as possible. When dinner came and Isolda wanted to ask you more questions about the mysterious man in your life you quickly called over Galia to join you and Isolda for dinner. You even made sure to make your bath quick in order to avoid any other cases of accidental flashing. When it finally came time for bed you stared at your mattress wondering just how long a human could go without sleeping but you got under your covers and waited for the darkness and silence to come, when it did you headed for the balcony and called to him.

You began to think he wouldn’t show up, you’ve been waiting a few minutes, you began to feel a lump start forming in your throat, you knew that if you stopped looking up that the tears that had begun to form at the bottom of your eyes would fall. “(YN)” You turn to him, you didn’t care if he saw the tears fall from your eyes now, he came to you, and before you could say anything he teleports in front of you and he’s kissing you. You start kissing him, back, and you wrap your arms around his neck. You don’t know how long you kiss for, you just remember the way his hands wiped your tears, you remember feeling brave and biting his bottom lip, which caused him to deepen the kiss. When you finally pull away you smile and so does he, he looks at you and almost instantly pulls you into his arms. “I thought you’d be mad at me.” You say leaning the side of your face into his chest he laughs “I was in shock, I didn’t know what to do. I haven’t kissed anyone in so long, even when I was alive I never had time to do things like that.” You look up at him “Well now I feel like a pervert that’s taking advantage of a helpless old man.” You say shaking your head into his chest he begins to laugh “It’s okay, I wanted this to happen.” He says kissing the top of your head “Did you see this happening?” You say looking up at him curious “Yes and no, but I didn’t think it would happen, I never saw you saying you liked me, again I just appeared there and I definitely didn’t think you’d come into the void and kiss me. There was a moment when you could have come into the void in the afternoon, then there was a moment just now that if I would have given you time to react you would have kissed me again or slapped me for worrying you. I chose to not give you the option and I made a choice for you.” He says rubbing the back of your head, you laugh a little, and you get up on your tippy toes and kiss his chin “Come with me” you say holding his hand and heading down to the spa of the cat.

In the last few years the cat had finished the construction of a thermae, you’ve never gotten the chance to go in it, since it was mostly used for the courtesans and customers pleasures, you thought now would be a good time to try it, you tested the water and not bothering to take off your nightgown you went in, the water was perfect and if you weren’t already asleep, you swore you could fall asleep again. “Come inside.” You say hearing your voice echo “I can’t swim.” He says avoiding eye contact with you, you glare at him “The water is 3 feet deep 5 at most, it’s just to relax in.” You say but he’s not listening to you, you teleport in front of him and you begin to undo the buttons on his coat, when you’re done you slide it off his shoulders, you untuck his white button up shirt, and although you know that whatever you’re feeling seems to be somewhat mutual you look at him and say “You should probably take off your pants.” He’s still avoiding looking at you but he does what you ask and begins to loosen his belt, and even if you’ve looked at him shamelessly before you can’t help but turn away from him this time. You walk back into the water and sit waiting for him to come in, when you hear the pants hit the ground with the belt you say “Come in, the water is nice” “I’ve never been in a heated pool for leisure like this before” his voice now beside you “Neither have I, although the Madam let’s us use the cat and all of it’s things during any holidays the rulers or the Abbey of the Everyman put forth.” You realize what you say and try to explain yourself “Not that I care about the Abbey I mean my father was killed by them and he doesn’t like you and I like you so obviously you know I don’t like them, although the last Abbey was alright I can’t remember his name right now but he wasn’t too bad but I’m still not like a die hard Abbey fan you know?” He begins to laugh and says “I know.” He looks at you with tender eyes before turning red again and looking away, this time you’ve had enough, you place your hand on the side of his face and turn his head to face you “What’s wrong? Why won’t you look at me?” You remove your hand and he opens his mouth to say something but looks down at your chest, then back up at you and he once again is turning red in embarrassment. You look down and finally put the pieces together the white nightgown you had on was thin and slightly translucent enough as it is but the water had made it practically transparent and your breast were fully exposed and accented by the wet fabric that clung to them. You smiled at yourself knowing that you made him feel this way, you felt special, no one else had ever gotten this close to him and around you he must have felt so human, whereas you felt invincible beside him and maybe that’s why you did what you did next. You got up, put one leg on each side of his thighs and sat on his lap, your hands on his shoulders. He didn’t look at you but his cheeks were no longer red, you wondered if he was getting comfortable, so you decided to push him a little more. You slid one of your hands from his shoulders, down his arms and you guided his hand to your side. Just as he seemed to be getting used to having his hand there, you guided it once more up your chest and with his hand in yours you gave one of your breast a squeeze he looks at you, you both seem to be searching each other’s faces for answers to questions you didn’t know how to ask. You removed your hand but his stayed and just like that you kissed him, you felt the hand you’d left become more confident and soon he had both of his hands fondling your chest, when you both finally pulled away from the kiss he brought his mouth to your ear and whispered in a sexier voice then usual “What are you doing to me?” And then before you could think of an answer he begins kissing you again with more confidence now.

You don’t know how long you kissed each other for, even if you’d only recently met it felt like all your life, you had been waiting for this moment and you were making up for 19 years of lost time and you wondered if he felt the same way. A part of you considered going all the way with him in that moment, and you won’t deny in the middle of all the kissing and touching the thought occurred. You started to wonder if in one of the possibilities he can see, if he saw you both making love, but you wanted to wait, definitely not for long but just a bit more. The other night he said he could feel most things, like pain and you began to wonder if that meant he could feel pleasure too. You rested your head on his shoulder and you just thought of where your life was going to go from here. “I wanna show you something, if you still wanna know more about your powers but we can stay here until you wake up if you’d like.” He said rubbing your head and back with his hands “Okay, let’s go.” you said getting up and teleporting out of the pool, he followed you and you held hands all the way. 

“Open it.” He said pointing to the Madam’s office door, and you tried to but the door was locked just like in real life “Use your mark.” He said grabbing your marked hand and placing it on the door, you thought about it opening and then you heard the clicks of the locks opening and the door creaked open. You smiled and looked at him excited “Just like my grandma. Did you know or have something to do with this?” You said hugging him, “The void works in odd ways, I can’t say I did, but she’d be happy to know you inherited the same powers as her.” He said with a smile “Powers? So I can possess things that aren’t human?” He nods his head to your question “That’s amazing, and it’s all because of you.” You say hugging him tighter and kissing his cheek. 

You both went up to lay on the roof you looked out onto the world “I wanna get out of here, how big is the world? Is there more than just this?” you say looking at him hopeful “Yes, there’s entire areas you all haven’t seen and it’s waiting for you.” He said holding your hand in his “I wish you could come with me.” you say looking at him and then back to the sky “I will, you have my mark and the heart, wherever you go, I’ll be there. The void is bigger than the universe it reaches all the corners of your world and more.” He said causing you to smile “My world was so small without you, it was always just me and Isolda.” “What about Emily? Isolda was going to be Emily’s head maid, they were good friends and I happen to know the queen still thinks about you both, she considered multiple times calling you two back to the castle but she didn’t think it was safe.” You tried to process what he was saying, it came as a shock to you “I didn’t think the queen still remembered us, it’s been so long and she’s been through so much I thought we’d be the least of her worries.” you said thinking back to the times you and emily would play together “The Queen doesn’t have many friends, she doesn’t know that Callista is alive but lost somewhere, and her last military advisor was killed by Delilah. She’s alone, all she has is Corvo, she could use someone like you and Isolda.” You thought about it for sometime “Maybe I’ll run the idea by Isolda, especially because once she turns 30 she says the Madam doesn’t see her working as a courtesan anymore.” You say smiling at the thought of one day returning to the place you grew up. ‘I wonder how much it’s changed since I last saw it’

“Is it weird knowing everything?” You ask causing him to laugh his usual deep laugh “At first it was overwhelming but I got used to it by now, sometimes I forget people can’t see the consequences of their immediate actions until it’s too late, or maybe they can see them but they just choose not to. Would you like to know the things I do?” He says with his classic mysterious face that you’re starting to think is just his normal face “No, I don’t think I would. Honestly I’m not sure. Honestly the powers are great but I can’t imagine how I’ll ever incorporate them into my everyday life, the greatest gift you’ve given me is the chance to be your friend and whatever this is.” You say kissing him and when you pull away you catch the smallest smile forming on his lips. 

“Everyone who comes in here always wants something from me, they always expect me to be the answer to all their problems, to help them cheat their way into a better life, and I comply but when things don’t go their way they blame me. I never tell anyone what to do but they always seem to find a way to pin all their misfortunes back to me. I never take the credit for the good things people accomplish using my gift, because they all did it on their own, through their own will and choices. I have no doubt you’ll be one of the good ones. So thank you for being the person that you are.” He said kissing you cheek, you look at the man in front of you, The Outsider feared by so many because they don’t know him but you do, you know him and whether you like it or not he knows you, and he believes in you. “No one has ever treated me the way you do, I never thought I was so special but it’s like you see something in me that no one else can see and you accept me as I am and I can’t believe the man I heard so many stories about is standing in front of me thanking me. I’ve never felt this way about someone besides Isolda, as in felt like I could trust them like they’d actually be there for me. You support and believe in me and that’s so much greater than any ability you could have given me and for that reason wherever these feelings go or take us I want you to know it’ll always be you, whatever happens I want it to be us.” You say and he gives a sad smile and just like that you feel yourself fading you kiss his cheek and when you wake up you see the sun rising and entering your room through your bedroom window.


	4. Secret Thoughts

“Hey you?” Isolda says throwing a grape at you “Me and Galia are going to a dance in town tonight you should bring your mysterious lover and come with us? It’ll be fun.” You started to think of all the reasons why that wouldn't be a good idea “We can’t go, and I’m actually planning on sleeping early today because I’m meeting up with him in the morning before work starts.“ you say barely tripping over your lie this time “Aww okay, but you can’t hide him from us forever.” Isolda says holding Galia’s hand as they both start to nudge each other. You didn’t want to hide him from them, it’s just the way things had to be, you can’t imagine yourself with anyone but him, how could you? But then it hit you, you’d never get the chance to get married or have kids ‘I’m getting ahead of myself but I can’t help myself either.’ you thought “(YN) are you alright? These last few days you seem so distracted.” Isolda says putting her motherly face on “Yes, I just have a lot on my mind.” You say reassuring her “(YN) you can always talk to me, I know you don’t need me anymore but I’ll always support you.” Isolda said clearly upset “I know, I’m sorry, we’ll talk about it another day, promise.” You say reassuring her that it was alright,she seemed to think it over “Oh alright, but you’ll never guess, I went back to the market looking for the lady I bought the necklace from and I couldn’t find her, I went around asking for her and it’s like she never existed.” Isolda said making spooky like gestures with her fingers and hands “That is pretty freaky.” You say thinking about it “What necklace?” Galia said confused, you hesitated but showed the heart to Galia “That’s a bone charm, not surprising that the lady doesn’t want to be found. My old jobs used to be involved with that kind of stuff.” Galia said looking as though she was reminiscing. You continued talking with them until breakfast ended and you all started working.

The day went by quickly and as you were headed to bed Isolda and Galia were headed out they said goodnight and you entered your room. You fell asleep instantly, when you arrived in the void you didn’t even get the chance to get out of bed before you saw him appear in front of you, you smiled and got up to hug him, when you pulled away you saw that he was smiling you switched spots with him and playfully pushed him onto the bed kissing him. You got off his lap and laid next to the wall and patted beside you inviting him to lie down next to you. He laid beside you and you cuddled beside him. “I wasn’t aware we had a date tomorrow morning.” He said grinning at the lie you told earlier “I wanna talk more about you but I can’t if I’m always somewhere Isolda can see, I’m going to pretend I’m meeting up with you in the mornings instead of in my dreams, wow that sounds a whole lot worse when I say it out loud.” He laughs and looks at you tenderly “I can give you something to do during the mornings, do you know what runes are?” He ask “I’ve heard of them, my father wrote about them in his journal but I’m not sure I know exactly what they are.” “They’re powerful objects made many years ago from whale bone, most of the time, they bare my mark on them and they can help strengthen your powers, I can make the heart lead you to them.” He says sticking out his hand you pass him the heart and he looks at it “Before I show you, there’s something you need to know, there’s already a spirit in this heart. Listen.” He squeezes and then you hear a voice you’d almost forgotten “She told me I could be a mother again, I couldn’t resist the opportunity” “Mother” you say with tears forming in your eyes, you squeeze the heart again “I’m here, as long as you need me.” You look up at him, and hug him you start to cry without holding anything back.

“How did she get in there?” You say looking at the heart then back at him “Ismay, she’s always been extremely powerful, I put the late Jessamine in a heart like this to guide Corvo and Emily, and your grandmother only grew more powerful when she passed and permanently became part of the void. She forged the heart in the void and was able to use up all of her power to momentarily manifest herself in the market where she met your friend and sold her the necklace so you’d have it. Her spirit came to me after and told me what she’d done she said she’d put your mother’s spirit in the heart, your mother was more than happy to be there in some way and that. Ismay said I should tell you when you were ready. I can’t find her anymore all of her energy went into forming that heart if she’s still here she’s in a much older part of the void now. She wasn’t the only one, the night you were attacked the man that you saw behind you that disappeared was your father but he wasn’t as strong as Ismay he only appeared as a shadow and when he realized he couldn’t help you he reminded me of Ismay and seeing him begin to fade into the deeper part of the void after using up all of his power I showed myself to you and I’ve never regretted that decision, I meant it when I said your grandmother taught me something very important and maybe your father did too.” He said putting an arm around you and pulling you close “They never stopped watching over me, they all sacrificed something for me, I’ll never understand why.” You say crying “Because they loved you, your entire family made the void a better place.” He says kissing your forehead, you squeeze the heart “I’d give up all that I am just to keep you smiling.”

“What exactly can the heart do?” You ask “Besides talk, she can lead you to runes, and since she’s part of the void she knows people’s past and thoughts, but only if you want to hear them. This heart is special and can hear people’s intentions but only if they can hurt you and she will warn you. Remember you’re the only one who can hear her voice.” He says reassuring you “Well going rune hunting tomorrow seems like a good idea.” “It’ll be dangerous some runes are located in shrines and not all of my followers, follow me for good reasons, but I’ll be able to fully appear to you at any shrine and you have your powers. Also with the heart you’ll be alright. I’ll be watching over you too.” He says holding your hand “I want to grow stronger and it’ll give me a good reason to be out in the morning.” You say with confidence, and you’re not sure if it’s due to your ignorance or bravery. You lay back down on your bed, he stays sitting up and you see him thinking again “What’s wrong?” you say pulling his arm so that he lays beside you, he does and he looks at you, sometimes you forget that not everyone’s eyes look like his, but to you it’s normal and calming. “I’m sorry I can’t actually be with you, I can’t leave this place for too long and even if I did I wouldn’t really be with you. I’m not actually here either.” He says this in a way that feels truly upsetting, you move closer to him and put your head into his chest and then look up at him “I don’t want you to feel sorry that you can’t be with me, I understand, when I kissed you I might’ve not fully realized what I was getting myself into but I do now and it’s alright as long as I have you like this, I can get through anything. You’re The Outsider this is where you’ve always been and I’ll wait for the day I can permanently join you here in the void but for now I’m happy just the way we are I can live this way, I’ve never connected with anyone in this way, and maybe I was never supposed to, so please don’t apologize.” You say kissing him once on the lips, he pulls you closer to him and kisses your cheek “Thank you.” He says and you weren’t sure what exactly he was thanking you for but you laid with him enjoying his presence.

“I always hate when morning comes, I don’t like leaving you.” you say putting your hand on his cheek and rubbing your thumb across his cheek, he grabs your hand and kisses your palm and smiles, his eyes were closed and he seemed so at peace, and then a thought occurred to you and after everything you didn’t think it was too soon he’s the one you wanted to be with now and hopefully always and that’s when you said what you were thinking “I love you.” He opens his eyes and he seems to be thinking about what to say “It’s okay I don’t expect you to feel the same way. I know it’s only been a few days but I can’t imagine ever loving someone else, and I don’t wanna lose you, I’ll understand if you can’t imagine being with me for a long time but I can.-” ”I love you too (YN).” He says intertwining your fingers “Really? You’re not just saying that.” He laughs at your comment a little and then says “I’ve been alive for 4,000 years, I’ve never done something like this before, I’ve never felt anything like this. Up until recently I didn’t think I could feel anything. I thought my emotions died with me all those years ago but I began to feel things when I saw the way your grandmother took care of your father, the way Corvo did everything for Emily and then let Daud go in the end, the way Emily just like her father regained their honor without taking a single life. Then I met you and I know what you mean.” He pauses and then continues “But I can’t force you to be with me, how could I, you still have so much to see and learn.” you quickly interrupt him “Stop, that isn’t your decision to make. I want to be with you.” You say as you can start to feel yourself fade you begin to say something else “Meet me in the Gold room tomorrow night it’s the only bedroom on the top floor, it’s nice, you can’t miss it.” You smile at him and lean in to kiss him once more and say “This is my choice, you’re my choice.” He kisses you, you close your eyes and when you wake up the sky is still dark and Isolda is fast asleep with her clothes from last night still on her.

You get dressed in your everyday clothes and leave a note on our bed explaining that you went to meet up with your secret admirer and would be back around breakfast, just incase Isolda forgot. You creep into the hall and out the back door careful not to wake anyone. You teleport to the top of the roof and you feel as though you’ve done something bad, it was the first time you’d used your powers outside of the void since the first time you got them and that was only because you had no other choice. You pressed the heart “I never expected the two of you to end up in a place like this, I’m sorry.” Your mother’s voice spoke but somewhere in the city you heard a loud heartbeat it felt close by, you began teleporting closer to it using the rooftops, when the heartbeat began to fade you pressed the heart again and followed the beat “My mother sold my only sister for a bottle of wine when she was 10, I never told you about her, it was too painful.” You wanted to say something but you felt as though every sentence your mother spoke was recorded, meant for you but you also knew you couldn’t really respond to her. You teleported past a few rooftops, and although it didn’t feel like a lot when you looked back the cat was almost out of your site. You look at the building in front of you ‘This is it’ the building is in the nicer part of town no doubt a rich aristocrat lives in it and you suddenly wonder if you’re really ready to break in and steal a rune, you began to think about the consequences of getting caught, regardless you knew you wouldn’t resort to killing anyone regardless of what happens. You squeeze the heart once more to make sure the building in front of you was your target and to calm your nerves once more “I don’t remember growing up on these streets, my mother sent me away to work with the royal family as soon as I was old enough to learn how to fold a shirt, she couldn't be bothered to worry about anyone but herself.” You begin to see the sun rising and the heartbeat is clear now, the rune is in the attic of the building. 

You teleport to the balcony and check the door quietly when you realize that on the other side of the door is a bedroom, you see a man sleeping in his bed through the glass doors. You carefully place your hand on the door and hear the door unlock itself, you quietly push it open and decide not to close it since you plan to leave the same way you came. You teleport to the bedroom door and open it, you feel your heart sink when you hear the man moving but it quickly goes away when you hear him snore. You enter a hall and notice the only other things beside stairs and decorations that stand out is a large wardrobe you open it and feel the heartbeat from the necklace and hear a heartbeat from behind the wardrobe and realize the back of the wardrobe is a door, you push it open and enter a small crawl space and at the end there's a turn, you crawl into a narrow hall and see a set of stairs with an interesting looking door at the top. The locks on the doors seem complicated but you’re not worried, when you place your hand on the door they open with loud clicks and the metal door creaks open, you see the rune in the middle of the room on an alter of some kind, candles, books and some questionable items litter the room. You walk towards the altar and place your hand on the rune “You made it to your first rune safely, I was worried, I don’t normally have favorites when it comes to the people I mark but you’re definitely an exception.” You smiled, it was good to see him, you won’t lie you were a bit shaken, it was your first mission after all. “You should hurry home, he’s going to wake up soon and your friend just read your note she’s going to want to know the details of our date.” He smiles and you laugh quietly “I can’t wait to see you tonight.” You say with a more flirty voice he picks up on it and mimics your flirty tone in his own way “Me too, so get home safe and leave the rune in your room I’ll show you what to do with it tonight.” He says disappearing and you quickly exit the attic closing the doors behind you, before you leave the building you look back at the sleeping man and smile. You get curious and lifted up the heart to the man “He’s dreaming of the day he’ll finally meet the man you see every night, all the artifacts in the world and not even a whisper.” you squeezed the heart once more “His girlfriends always seem to disappear under mysterious circumstances.” you decided you didn’t wanna hear anymore and leave the building. 

You teleported from one rooftop to another trying to hurry before it became late enough for people to notice you ‘If I get there quickly, which I will’ you thought to yourself with a smile ‘I can make it for breakfast.’ You quickly arrived to the roof of the cat and once you saw that no one was in the alley of the cat you teleported down and ran to your room to hide the rune and switch to your work attire. When you finish you head to the breakfast hall. Isolda waves you over to the table in the back, her and Galia had saved you a seat, you grab your breakfast and head over. You didn’t even get a chance to sit before Isolda looks at you and starts asking with a sneaky smile “So how was it?” you smile “Really, really good.” you say thinking back to how you finally told him how you felt and how he felt the same way. “Ohhh. Did you guys do it?” She says nudging you, Galia snorts “No!” you yell jokingly “Not yet.” you say more quietly “What? When? And okay so Galia apparently her mystery man is tall, dark haired and handsome. Opinions?” Isolda says practically jumping up and down “After years of working with a guy like Rinaldo I realized that men just aren’t for me so no comment.” You all laugh at Galia’s comment “Okay well I love anything nice with a pulse and I think he sounds great.” Isolda says “Now back to the other questions, where does he live? Are you going to move in with him? Does he have any pets? Does he want kids? Are you guys getting married? When are you seeing him again and most importantly are you going to do him that day? Wait have you guys kissed?” “Isolda!” You say raising your voice and laughing “Calm down, we’re taking it slow but we have kissed and I might go out with him the next morning.” You say hoping Isolda drops the too personal questions “Well we should all go out for breakfast tomorrow morning, and take a trip around the market. Girls day out” Isolda says happily “We can also do something on the last day of the month, it’ll also be your birthday the next month love, and the brothel will be closed to decide working shifts for the new month, maybe a double date or something? It’s coming up in 5 days.” Galia says kissing Isolda’s cheek “That sounds nice, yeah maybe, do you think your mystery man will grace us with his presence?” Isolda ask “I can see if he can, but he’s busy a lot.” You say looking at your food “Well tell him to not be.” Galia says sarcastically, you all laugh and continue to eat breakfast but for some reason you felt a strange sadness in the air. 

Like always the day went by quickly, the customers were their usual selves, and you joked with Isolda and Galia in between. When it came time for bed you took a long bath and got dressed in a silky clear robe Isolda insisted you buy so you could feel sexy and confident, underneath you wore your nicest pair of undergarments “Whoa where are you going all dolled up to, midnight rendezvous with the mystery man?” Isolda said noticing your obvious sexy sleepwear “Nope, I’m going to bed.” You say and you both laughed and turn off the lights to go to bed. When you awake you quickly start teleporting through the void into the Gold Room when you make it to the top you see him looking out into the void from the balcony in the room “Hey.” You call to him from across the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY FOR THE CLIFFHANGER BUT I'M GOING TO UPLOAD THIS STORY EVERY SATURDAY! (This week is an exception because I have a test tomorrow and I don't know how I'll feel afterwards) Anyways I hope you guys like the chapter any questions I have a tumblr: jess-go-to-sleep


	5. The Heart Of The Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (NN) is nickname or just your name repeated have fun with it ON TO THE CHAPTER

The moment he hears you call to him he turns around and smiles, you smile back and teleport to the middle of the room and let your robe fall onto the bedroom floor, leaving you in just your underwear and bra, the robe wasn’t covering much but it was one more obstacle between you and him. He teleports in front of you “You’re beautiful.” He says taking his hand and moving it up and down your arm. You look at each other and smile. You look down at his lips and kiss him ‘It never gets old kissing him.’ You pull on his coat and together you start to undo it, by the time you get to the shirt underneath you practically rip off all the buttons in one pull, you hear his deep laugh in between the still frenzied kiss. You stop kissing him, he looks at you and you put one finger inside the rim of his pants “Is this okay?” He looks at you and nods yes and starts kissing you again as you begin to undo his pants once they hit the ground he takes you in his arms and in one swift movement you end up on the bed but you flip him underneath you and start moving against his hips, not once stopping the kiss until you can’t take it anymore “Don’t make me wait I want you now.” You say getting off of him to take off the rest of your clothes when you finish he grabs you and pushes you down with your back on the bed and positions himself in between your legs “I waited 4000 years for someone like you, how do you think I feel?” He says into your neck as he slides into you, you make a noise between a laugh and moan, the pain is somewhat addicting and then it starts feeling like the the void and your world are becoming a blur and you’re somewhere only the two of you exist. You push him to the side and get on top of him again you hear him grunt as you start to move faster “(YN)” He says closing his eyes while he’s enjoying every movement you make “You look like you’re dreaming?” You say, he opens his eyes looking enchanted “Because I must be.” He says grabbing your hips as you both begin moving faster, you bend forward and kiss him as he continues you start moaning into the kiss and feel the world go blank for a moment and then he squeezes your side and growls your name into your neck. You lay on his chest and you both are in a dream like state “How was that?” You ask shyly he right away says “Amazing” You both laugh and you cuddle against his chest “I love you.” He says looking over at you “I love you too.” you say with a smile and all you can think of is how perfect this moment is.

“The rune I got is under the pillow in my bed right now how exactly was I supposed to bring it here.” You say with a confused smile, he gives you a smirk “Reach in under the pillow.” He says, you do as your told and feel the rune under the pillow “I’m not even going to ask how you did that.” You say and you both start laughing “So how would you like to improve your powers?” He says looking at the rune and then at you “Is it possible to get any closer to the void then I already am?” You say running a finger down his chest “Well you definitely got pretty close today” he says kissing you and then continues “But the void isn’t a place for the living and you’re already closer to this place than anyone's ever been.” He says holding your hand against his chest “Where are you?” “What do you mean? I’m here.” He responds confused “I mean the other part of you that’s trapped here.” His expression seems to change and his face tells you that he’s thinking about what he’s going to say next “I’m in a part of the void you can never go to.” He says still looking serious but holding you close “Why not? Maybe I can help you” You say sitting up “You can’t, it’s too dangerous there, the cult that sacrificed me still has members and they’re always there, it’s too dangerous and I’d never let you.” He says sitting up and rubbing your back, you don’t say anything and he picks up on it “I’m sorry, but this is how things have to be it’s how they’ve always been, is that why you wanted the rune to help you with your connection to the void?” He says picking up the rune and placing it in your hand “I just want to be with you.” You say wrapping your arms around his neck “I do too but this is enough for you right?” He says with a hint of sadness in his voice “It is, I just hate being without you. I just wish when I woke up you were there. I wanna leave the cat and go see the world with you.” You say leaning on him feeling emotional “I will always be here for you, we love each other. And I’m sorry I can’t give you more or do more for you.” He says holding you close, you lean into him.

“I wish I knew your name.” You say “So do I.” He says with a deep short laugh, you playfully smack his chest “I’m serious, I can’t moan Outsider when we do what we did again, I’d rather say your real name.” You say and you both immediately start laughing “I wish I knew it. I’d tell you if I did.” He says looking at the view from the balcony in front of you. You hold his hand and he looks at you and smiles “Also who says you can’t moan Outsider?” He says and you both start laughing again “I love your laugh, it makes me feel special and I always want to be around to hear it.” You say holding him close, and you feel him squeeze you back. “What did you want to be when you were younger, what dreams did you have?” You asked looking up at him, he seemed to think it over “I guess I didn’t think I’d ever get off the streets but I loved the thought of being a scholar or something along the lines of that but that was a career for the rich, I didn’t get much of a chance to receive an education or learn a trade.” He said rubbing the back of his head “What about you love?” He said sitting up on the bed while you laid against his chest “Well I’m not sure yet but next week I’m starting classes at a small school for women, thanks to Emily who wanted to give women more chances to learn. So as for now I’m excited to learn.” You said looking at him, he gave you a small smile “Try not to forget me when you fall in love with learning.” He said with a warm smile “I never would, you’re my world already no matter how much I learn or see, I’ll always come back here to you.” You said while digging your face into his side causing him to laugh “Okay, okay.!” He says cracking up, you laugh with him “Mr. Outsider are you ticklish?” You say still laughing, he looks at you with a fake angry look and begins to tickle you, you start laughing, but quickly distract him with a kiss he looks at you tenderly “It’s almost morning.” He says “I know, just stay with me like this a little longer.” you say bringing his head down to your chest and together you laid there, and you rubbed his head until you began to fade away.

“So what are you going to get? (YN)? (NN)!” Isolda yells at you from across the small table outside the cafe Galia jumps still a little sleepy “What? What?” You say snapping out of your daze “What are you thinking about?” Isolda says looking at you “I swear everyday you’re more and more distracted” Isolda says smiling “Well of course she practically has hearts in her eyes” Galia says in a still groggy voice “I guess I see what she means” an all to similar voice says beside you causing you to jump, Isolda burst into laughter waking Galia up fully, causing her to jump, which only causes Isolda to start laughing more “Were you startled by the bird?” Isolda says trying to catch her breath, you look up at the outsider and he points to the bird beside his chair “They can’t see me remember?” He says with a kind smile, the waitress comes by and takes everyones order but his. You Galia and Isolda laugh and talk over the breakfast, meanwhile you faintly feel his hand on your leg while he listens intently to the conversation “Your friends are funny, do you think they’d like me?” He ask curiously, you smile “Hey guys whats your opinion on The Outsider?” He stares at you in shock, Galia chokes on her coffee “Hmmm not sure, I heard things about him but I never really thought about him.” Isolda says taking your random question seriously “My old boss hated him, but personally I always just thought of him as a force not to be reckoned with and just respect.” Galia says composing herself “Do you think he’s hot?” Isolda says in hushed tone that was a little too serious, and Galia just loses it “No!” Galia scream laughs “You can’t just ask something like that.” Galia adds more awake than ever causing him to laugh and you laugh too “I think he must be really good looking.” You say with a smirk “Ooooo I’m going to tell your boyfriend.” Isolda says jokingly “But yeah he’s probably really cute and the size of a whale down there, if you know what I mean.” Isolda adds barley holding back a laugh “Oh I totally think he is.” You say confidently and laugh as he started to turn red “You two are a bunch of heretics and are going to get smite or something.” Galia says with a look of horror and you all start laughing. 

“Where did you get the money for the breakfast?” You ask Isolda “From my savings.” Isolda says with a sassy hand movement, you and Galia stop walking “What I can earn it back eventually it’s just money.” Isolda says with her usual cheery voice “You earned that money so you could move out and retire in an apartment.” You say sadly “You two mean the world to me let me spoil you guys just this once. Please.” Isolda says holding out her hands, you and Galia reach towards her and the three of you walk back to the cat together occasionally you see him from the corner of your eye just listening and smiling tenderly, you look back at him and smile every so often. ‘So this is happiness’ You think to yourself, as you look up to the morning sun. Isolda looks back at you and looks up at the sky “I’m so glad that I have the two if you in my life.” Isolda says with a sincere smile and pulls you both into a group hug behind your back you ask him to join in the hug and he can’t deny you and while the 4 of you hug in the middle of the market you’re filled with a warm safe feeling. 

 

It felt as though every item you and Galia even looked at Isolda bought for you two. By the time you all got back to the cat breakfast had ended and The Outsider seemed to pop in and out throughout your whole work day, when the day ended you entered the bath alone and you called out to him “I like having you around.” You say out loud knowing he can hear “I like being around.” He says appearing with his back turned to you, you smile and stand in the bath “Join me.” You say extending your arm to him, with a swift movement he teleports towards the tub and out of his clothes, he holds your hand but his touch is so faint it feels like a breeze, he steps in “Can you feel the warm water?” You ask noticing his cheeks turning a faint red “In a way, I feel things better in the void everything here feels much more faint. Normally I can’t appear in the world for this long, only in the areas where the void leaks into this world or shrines. But I try to make the effort for you I’m a lot weaker and I can’t really hold you.” He says reaching out to touch your cheek, you barely feel it. “It’s okay just seeing you is enough.” You say with a caring smile you continue your bath while whispering quietly to him.

You finished your bath looking extremely pruney, you head to your room and changed into your nightgown, Isolda entered the room “Hey do you have time to talk for a bit?” She says sitting on her bed and you sit on yours “Of course.” You say trying to figure out what she’s thinking “I want to meet this guy you’re talking to, I’ve never seen you so infatuated about someone, you’re distracted and you seem happy and I know we won’t always be together and I can see you moving away from the cat, and now you’re going to start classes next week, so I can’t see you staying here the way I have I know you’ll find a better job and seeing the way you talk about this boy and how he makes you feel, I know you two will have a future together and I wanna meet him. Tell him to meet up with us at the end of the month. I like this guy so far but he always seems so busy, or are you hiding him for some reason? He’s not an Overseer is he?” Isolda ask jokingly but worried “No, never!” You say dramatically, Isolda laughs “Good but never say never, because you never know, those masks are pretty sexy.” She says with a wink “Ha! No he’s not an Overseer he’s a bit of scholar in a way, he knows a lot for his age, he’s really wise. I’m not hiding him he’s just busy a lot.” You say sadly “He isn’t married, is he? Is that why you only see him in the early mornings?!” Isolda says with a shocked look “No! He’s definitely not married.” You say horrified that she’d even assume that “So what is it?” She says confused “He really just can’t go out so much, he’s very busy with his job.” You say trying your best to defend him “That’s odd, you never questioned it?” Isolda says sounding worried “Your mom would kill me if she knew I didn’t question you about this guy he seems sweet but something's off promise me you’ll tell me what’s going on with him or that I’ll at least meet him soon?” She says with a concerned look “I’ll always tell you everything I know, you’re more than a friend to me, you’re like a sister to me, you know that. And I’ll definitely ask him but he might be busy.” You say with a sad tone, you know you can’t tell her, you just can’t. You know she’d believe you but the entire situation is insane, you don’t want to get her involved. “I’m sorry for questioning you so much I just never wanna see you get hurt, but how’s your hand doing you’re still wearing the bandage?’ Isolda says changing her demeanor to her usual one “Oh it’s still super bruised and gross, I know the madam would tell me to keep it covered for the customers sake.” You say dramatically “She would tell you that.” She says shaking her head. The two of you talked a little longer before going to bed. 

When you enter the void you lay in your bed a little longer “Is everything alright?” He says sitting down beside you “No, how can I tell her about you? Isolda wants to meet you but how do I even begin to explain everything that’s happened or how we met, and who you are? I hate lying to her” You say bringing your knees into your chest and hugging your legs, without looking up you feel the bed sink down, he’s sitting at the foot of the bed “You can tell her if you’d like, I can’t see her reaction too clearly because you still can’t decide what to do but I know it’ll bring her a sense of peace that she so desperately needs. I don’t want you to be upset over me.” His voice is caring and soft, you look up at him “I truly love you, Outsider, you’re my world.” You say moving over to the edge of the bed to hug him “And you’re the life I never got to live (YN)” He says rubbing your back and soothing your worries, you felt time passing but it didn’t pass by slowly it just seemed to flow when you were with him “I wish I could be with you forever like this.” You say while leaning against him, his back supported by the wall “4000 years would have gone by a lot faster with you by my side.” He says with a sincere smile before kissing the top of your head “4000 years of us being together still wouldn’t be enough time with you.” You say and he looks at you with a funny look “Now you’re just being dramatic.” He says with a laugh “Am I really? How could I ever get bored of you?” You say being completely sincere and adding “You make me happy, forever doesn’t sound like enough time either.” He looks at you with a surprised look “I’ve experienced the minds and thoughts of so many, I’ve seen them live out their lives and yet your soul is the most beautiful and special of all. I truly believe you love me, your love gives me hope and loving you makes me feel alive again. You freed me from a loneliness that plagued me for so long I began to think it was normal to feel this way.” Halfway through him talking you began to tear up, you felt so many emotions happy ones and also sad ones knowing how alone he felt, he wiped your tears and kissed you with a passion that filled every inch of you with bliss, “You’re my heart.” He whispered

“There’s another rune near you again but this isn’t like the last one it’s more guarded and since you haven’t decided on a power it would be pointless to put yourself in danger for it.” He says to you in a serious tone “But could the runes eventually help me become closer to you or could they help you.?” He seems to think it over “The runes in your world are a lot stronger then the runes that are already in the void. I’m sure I could help you strengthen your connection to this place with another rune and I could even create one just for you but I don’t know what the side effects of being closer to this place would be. I’ve never used the runes for myself I don’t even think I can.” He says considering it all “Let me try to retrieve it, just in case.” You say with a pleading look “I can’t say no to you, but promise me if it gets too dangerous you’ll get out of there.” He says sounding protective “I promise.” You say but it didn't seem to lessen his worries, you both go quite for a bit. “Does the heart work on you?” You ask “Perhaps, but I already tell you all my thoughts and even act them out.” He says in a seductive tone in the end, you smirk at him but pull out the heart and point it at him, you squeeze “He carries a burden much to great for even a god to bare alone.” Your mother's voice made the statement all the more sad, you looked at him, he gave you a small smile and you tried to return it, you laid together in your bed and held him close the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the late update the test took a bit more out of me than I expected and when I finally was going to update I was thinking about the direction I wanna take the next few chapters in I have the main parts mapped out but the fluff in the middle is what I have issues with ANY AND ALL FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY THIS PART I'LL TRY TO GET THE NEW PART OUT SATURDAY THANK YOU FOR THE KUDOS I LOVE YOU GUYS REALLY THIS MEANS SO MUCH TO ME IT'S MY FIRST FANFIC AND I'D LOVE TO DO MORE FOR OTHER STUFF TOO AND THE KUDOS REALLY MOTIVATE ME THANK YOU


	6. The Truth About Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (NN) nickname

You begin writing the note for Isolda so she knew that you’d be out this morning again, but would be back later. You put clothes that were easy to move in and you also decided to grab a scarf from the back of your drawer to cover the bottom half of your face you took the heart out from underneath your shirt and looked over at Isolda ‘It’s not my place to know her thoughts, besides whatever she’s thinking she’s always told me and yet I can’t tell her my secret.’ You put the heart down and teleport out the window and up to the roof. You looked out onto the city and pressed the heart “Something is coming and I can’t protect you from any of it.” Your mother's voice was so distressed it caught you off guard you pressed the heart once more “Be careful (NN) the world is not kind to those in love” this time your mom's voice was more serious and composed like the last time she spoke to you, you heard the heartbeat echo in the direction of the docks but you were still trying to wrap your head around your mother’s message. You were frozen in place but you had to keep going, you wanted this rune but her warnings plagued your mind until you reached the docks. When you got to the docks you looked down at all the boats and hesitated but squeezed the heart “The stories these boats hold are of places I can only hope you’ll one day see” the heartbeat came from a boat at the end of the dock it was larger than the rest and made of a more metal material, the rest of the boats were mostly unmanned but this one had a man keeping watch you pointed the heart at him “The people on this boat aren’t ordinary sailors and they’ll do anything to receive their payment at the end of their job.” You heard the heartbeat coming from underneath him ‘The rune is at the bottom of the boat.’ You thought carefully thinking about how to approach the situation next. You saw an open window where the captain should be but you didn’t see anyone there you teleported in and hoped for the best.

“What do you think you’re doing?” You jump almost losing your balance when turning around, he sounded angry you almost didn’t recognize his voice “I’m getting the rune, what do you think I’m doing?” You snap back trying not to raise your voice too high but he shushes you anyways “Are you crazy this place is heavily guarded, and you could easily be caught here.” He says sounding panicked now “Don’t worry I have you and the heart watching over me, not to mention my powers, don’t worry I know what I’m doing.” You say in a whisper “No you don’t!” He whisper yells even though no one can hear him except you, he looks at you and sighs “I can’t talk you out of this, so just please be careful, this won’t be as easy as the last time.” You smile at him and head into the hall. You peek into doorways on your way down and find the occasional guard inside but they were too distracted to even notice you. When you got to the lower levels of the boat you found the crew area where most of the people were still fast asleep you squeezed the heart and saw that the rune was behind two heavy metal doors “Your father and I dreamed of starting our family out at sea someday, we never got the chance.” Sometimes it was hard hearing your mother’s thoughts but you treasured them anyways, hearing her voice again although heartbreaking was the greatest gift of all. You teleported up to the door and realized it was locked from the inside but you also overheard two men talking “The boss is furious, he says one of his artifacts were stolen and he wants to point the finger at someone in the crew but he won’t say which object was stolen, and no one is dumb enough to break the rules and open these boxes up.” The worker says annoyed, you remove your ear from the door and think ‘I need a distraction.’ you look to the side and see a door you listen in but hear nothing when you open it you see that it’s a supply closet, you leave the door open and turn your attention back to the metal doors you place your hand on them and unlock the door ‘I hope this works’ you stick your hands out and a massive blast of air swings the doors off its hinges and you run into the supply closet to hide “What was that!?” one of the men ran out frantically “I don’t know but let’s go check on the others.” the second man says as they run down the hall, you exit the closet and enter the room and squeeze the heart “These artifacts come from all over the world some hold no value others hold more value than the buyer will ever know.” a box in the corner beats rapidly you open it and inside is the rune you take it “That was a bit too much of a show you gave don’t you think?” He says looking at the doors that had knocked over some boxes “I’m not very good at controlling my powers strength yet, you know that.” You say laughing a little “We’ll practice more later. Now please get home safe.” He says bending over to kiss your cheek, you close your eyes in anticipation but you only feel a cool breeze on your cheek when you open your eyes he’s gone.

You teleport down the halls quickly when you reach the stairs you quickly go up them and enter a hall you were previously in. You start making your way to the room you entered from but the two men from earlier come out “Hey, you there pull down your mask. Who are you?” One man yells while the other one pulls out a gun and begins to lower it ordering you to your knees, you had the rune in your hand “Drop it!” The first man says, meanwhile from behind you, you begin to see the rest of the crew entering the hall due to the commotion. You looked at an open port window behind the two men, on it a crow, they hadn’t noticed the bird there, you smiled underneath your mask and raise both your hands in surrender, the one with the gun waves it around signaling you to hurry up and drop the rune. You look up at them one more time “No.” you say loud enough for them to hear, the men behind you start laughing and the one with the gun gets ready to shoot but before he could shoot you, your marked hand lights up as you feel your mind and body become one with the birds, they all looked around in shock at your sudden disappearance and you hear the bullet go into the floor where you once stood. They didn’t question it when you flew away, they thought the sound startled the bird you had possessed. 

You flew to a nearby building before releasing the bird from his possession “You looked out into the sea and see the sun rising, you look down at the boat and see the commotion of crew members scrambling to find you, you laugh as you begin teleporting back to the caT. “That was incredibly reckless they could have killed you.” He says teleporting beside you “But they didn’t, and I don’t want to kill them, I don’t want to kill anyone.” You respond in a somewhat serious tone “They could have seen your face, you’re a notable servent at the cat, they could’ve gone after you.” He says with a voice filled with more worry than anger “But they didn’t besides I’m more worried about something the heart said earlier.” You said looking over at him, he seemed to be looking off in the distance “What did the heart say?” He said in a voice you assumed he used with everyone except you, you tried to sound more lighthearted “I’m surprised you weren’t listening in.” but he still looked serious “Anyways it was more of a warning that something big was coming and that the world isn’t kind to those in love.” You stop teleporting when you finish talking and he stops a little ahead of you, he doesn’t turn around to talk to you “Is there something you’re not telling me?” You say reaching out to touch his shoulder but your hand just passes through him. He turns around to look at you with a sad look that slowly faded away to his normal demeanor “Don’t worry, I’m sure it was referring to the boat, I have to go now, but I love you and I’ll see you tonight.” He says with the kind voice you’d like to believe was only for you and he gives you a sad smile before disappearing leaving you to walk back to the cat alone.

You walk into the hall feeling like a plague victim, you just wanted to lie down in your bed, but you had to change for work, you noticed Galia walk out of your room with a sweater “Hey (YN)! What’s with the scarf?” Galia says jokingly pulling down the scarf covering your face, your expression must have said something because she immediately changes her tone “Is something wrong? Is it the guy? Were you with him just now? Did you guys break up?” Galia ask sounding worried but you can’t bring yourself to talk “Where did you get that mark?” Galia says grabbing your marked hand causing you to drop the rune she quickly grabs it but then drops it “I can’t pick it up, you do it and quickly.” She says and walks back into your room you follow and she closes the door behind you. Galia takes a deep breath “That’s The Outsiders mark and that’s a rune, I won’t tell anyone else but does Isolda know? Is this what you’ve been hiding?” Galia says sounding completely sincere “Isolda doesn’t know, I don’t know how to tell her.” You say finally leaving your daze, you begin to wrap your hand up and hide the rune “I understand, there’s something I haven’t told the two of you either.” She says taking a deep breath and continuing “When the queen was murdered I was working as an apprentice for the people that assassinated her, we were known as The whalers. I continued working for them after but my boss was never the same after the assassination, he had been marked before he was given the target he began to blame The Outsider for what he did to the Queen that he was the reason he killed her in some way. That the outsider is the reason for all the evil in the world-He’s not your boss just didn’t want to own up to his actions!” You say defensive, infuriated and confused “How could you work for them, they didn’t just kill the queen, my mother was killed and all the other servants, me and Isolda would have been killed if we hadn’t gotten away!” You yell she looked ashamed “They picked me off the streets, they were the only family I ever had, I told you I think The Outsider should be respected and feared, my old bosses views aren’t my own, the group fell apart and me and Rinaldo came to work here at the cat, I thought about going back to that life, but I knew I wouldn’t have the help of my bosses powers anymore, it’s all I knew how to do and then I met Isolda and I realized that as long as she’s by my side I can be the best version of myself.” She says basically pleading now “Please don’t tell Isolda I’m not ready to tell her about my past.” “I guess we both have things we’re hiding from her.” You say taking out your work uniform “I’ll see you for breakfast, I told Isolda I was just getting her sweater but I’ve been gone for a while and I don’t want her to come looking for me, I’ll tell her I bumped into you.” She says heading for the door and before opening it she turns around and looks at you “I may not have the same opinions of The Outsider that my boss does, but I wouldn’t trust him (NN).” She says sounding concerned but caring “Don’t worry.” You say as she leaves the room ‘If only she knew.’ 

You enter the dining hall and join Isolda and Galia in the usual back table “There you are, another morning rendezvous, where’s your breakfast though?” Isolda says noticing you sat down without anything “I forgot.” You say realizing just how out of it you are “I’ll go get you something, besides I wanted more food anyways. Do you want anything love?” Isolda says and Galia waves her finger and head no, Isolda leaves the two of you to get breakfast “So there is no secret lover you’ve been going to shrines every morning to get runes haven’t?” Galia says quietly, you consider telling her the truth but Galia doesn’t trust The Outsider, you don’t think she’d understand ‘She’d probably think he’s tricking me.’ “No I haven’t been meeting up with a mysterious lover in the mornings, I was collecting runes from shrines.” You say looking at your covered hand “You were the one who stole an object from the rich aristocrat across town, they’re looking everywhere for you, but they have no idea who you are or how you even pulled it off. Amazing.” Galia says slow clapping and nodding in approval she then gets the look on her face like something finally clicked “Suddenly the conversation we had at the cafe makes more sense, until Isolda completely flipped it and I don’t wanna know what you know about him, I’m hoping you weren’t talking from experience.” Galia says laughing and you laugh awkwardly with her hoping she wouldn’t notice, you don’t think she did “Do you know why you were marked?” Galia asks, and for some reason you feel like you can tell her the truth about this part of the story “He saved me, I was almost assaulted by one of Isolda’s regulars, if he wouldn’t have shown up when he did I would have died or worse.” You said shuttering at the thought of what he had planned for you “You were the one who killed him?” Galia asked, without looking at her you nod yes “Well good riddance to him he was a disgusting excuse for a human and Isolda and the other courtesans have had numerous complaints, if you wouldn’t have killed him I would have eventually, I’ve kicked him out a few times before. I’m just glad you’re alright, but your experience with the outsider makes me think my boss might have had it all wrong but you should still avoid him as much as possible. He saved you once but at what cost and do you really need to continue collecting runes, what for?” Galia says sounding more like Isolda with every word “I don’t know.” ‘Liar’ you thought right after you said it, Galia gave you the face Isolda gives you when she knows your lying but she doesn’t question you further, just then Isolda arrives “So what did I miss?” Isolda says passing you your breakfast and looking as cheerful as ever.

You and Galia tried to be your usual selves throughout breakfast but the events of the day lingered in your mind. The day went by in a blur and for the first time since you’d been marked you didn’t want to go to bed, something was off and you knew it, but it was too late if Galia was right she’s too late in warning you, you’re already in love with him, and you know that he knows what the hearts warnings meant. Eventually you were too tired to keep staying up and you fell asleep. When you awoke he was sitting in Isolda’s bed looking out your window. “Maybe Daud’s right about me, maybe subconsciously I know that when I give people my mark they’ll be more likely to use it for evil, maybe that’s what I really want.” He says not once looking at you, you get up and walk towards him, he looks down, you get on the bed behind him and wrap your arms around him. “I don’t believe it.” You say laying your head against his back “Maybe you should.” He says while holding your hands. “I don’t care what you say, I’m in love with you, if this isn’t real and I’m a fool then I am the happiest fool.” You say and you hear him make a tiny gasp “You know I love you too, and I’d never hurt you.” He said finally turning to face you “So tell me what’s coming?” You ask and he looks down at your hands “Nothing that you can stop, so please don’t worry about it anymore it’ll all be alright I promise.” He says pulling you into his arms, when he holds you any worry and doubt you have fades away you feel safe again like the world can’t hurt you but it’s not enough not this time but before you can say anything he lifts your chin and looks at you “Please stop searching for runes, you have no desire for power and I’d burn the world if anything ever happened to you.” He says kissing your lips “Can you actually do that?” You ask pulling away “I’m not sure, but I would definitely try.” He says pulling you in for another kiss that was filled with lust and yet also love, you lean against him and you fall onto his chest and feel a tear fall on the side of your face and you hoped he wouldn’t notice but you think of what he said before “It’s not okay, you’re saying that you’d burn the world for me but I’d do anything for you too, if something is going to happen, tell me, you don’t have to be alone anymore. You have me and I’m always going to be on your side, Galia is my friend and I defended you when she hinted at you possibly being evil. Please don’t treat me like a child. Maybe I can help, you don’t have to suffer by yourself, from now and on I’ll share your burdens.” You say gripping his coat and crying, he looks at you with empathetic eyes and he just holds you in his arms and you cry and cry and he rubs your head and when you finally finish he kisses your cheeks, you felt emotional and you wanted him to know how you felt always I don’t wanna lose you. I feel like I finally discovered what living feels like when I’m with you I see my whole world and I’m scared to enjoy these moments because I’m worried they’ll all be gone soon. You are my life now and I don’t want to go back to living a life without you in it because it’ll never be the same.” You say looking up at him, he sits up and sits you on his lap and holds you “You have all my time, for as long as I’m here you’ll have me.” He says holding you tighter than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WILL GET BETTER AT POSTING


	7. Even Stars Fade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I MADE IT LONG TO MAKE UP FOR MY ABSENCE THE 8TH CHAPTER IS ALREADY BEING WRITTEN I'M SO SORRY I SUCK :(

The last two days since the hearts warnings, had gone by in somewhat of a blur, the day after you and Galia avoided each other like the plague and when the day ended a part of you was still not ready to go to bed so you snuck out onto the roof tops and teleported around listening to the thoughts of the people around you through your mother’s voice but no more warnings came through. When night arrived and you finally decided to sleep he had been waiting for you, but he looked distracted, like he hadn’t even noticed how much time had exactly passed and that you were late. The two of you just cuddled in bed in silence. The next day you and Galia finally got things back to normal, neither of you wanting to alarm Isolda with your sudden silence towards each other. When night came again you went up onto the rooftops and this time you flew around in the body of the bird you had possessed and you wondered if your grandmother was ever tempted to just fly away. When you finally went to bed this time he seemed more of aware of your lateness and just when you thought he was going to tell you something he kissed your cheek and you both cuddled in silence for another night. 

“(NN) wake up! It’s our day off! Come on let’s have some fun, I don’t wanna waste a single minute of this day! I wanna enjoy it with my two favorite people in the whole world.” Isolda said getting off of your bed and looking in her drawers and wardrobe. She puts on a pretty dress and goes to your wardrobe “Okay, you have to wear this” Isolda says pulling out a button up blouse and a skirt. “Okay, I’m too tired to think about what to wear.” You say laughing as you stretch your arms and yawn “Did you ask your boyfriend, is he coming today?” Isolda ask fixing her hair in the mirror “He can’t come, he’s busy they called him away for work and we weren’t on the best of terms before he left.” You say dressing yourself “Trouble in paradise already, you guys just met. What’s wrong?” Isolda ask while walking over to do your hair “It’s just I know something’s bothering him or on his mind but he just wont tell me what it is, and it makes me feel like he doesn’t trust me.” you say sounding more frustrated than you wanted to “Well have you told him you felt this way?” Isolda says putting a ribbon in your hair “Not really, I mean I expressed that he should tell me that I’d support him but I didn’t actually tell him it hurts to know he doesn’t trust me.” You say realizing your mistake “Well maybe you should tell him how it hurts, if he really loves you he’ll understand and he’ll care.” Isolda says patting you on the shoulders, “You’re right Isolda, thanks you always know what to say.” You say admiring yourself in the mirror, Isolda was always good at styling hair “No, I’m just good at telling you what you already know.” Isolda says with the biggest smile “Come on let’s go enjoy today, we don’t get many breaks and it’s important to enjoy these moments, don’t be sad anymore and next time you see him hold him tight, you never know how long you have with people. So let’s go Galia is waiting for us.” She adds as she runs out into the hall, you follow her, on her heel with a smile.

“Are you excited for classes to start next week?” Isolda ask “Yeah, I’ve always been interested in learning, it won’t be anything crazy, just the basic reading and writing and then a history class.” You say “It was nice of the queen to push the program forward, another reason the madam is redoing the schedule is to figure out which girls will be out in the morning and which will be out at night for class. When are yours (YN)?” Galia ask “I have the night classes.” You say “Which is great since I’m more busy with the patrons at night and so is Galia.” Isolda says enthusiastically “The night patrons are always the most rowdy and handsy.” Galia says rolling her eyes, you all laugh “So what are the plans after this breakfast, which by the way this cafe has our entire salary for this month at this point.” You say and the girls laugh even harder but then you all sigh “Well after breakfast I was thinking we could go see the town a bit more, look at the shops and market just relax because tonight I think we should join the other girls from the cat who are going out to the dance thats being held in an old factory and just enjoy ourselves. Now I know it’s not your scene (YN) but please come it will mean so much to me, just this once, I’ll never ask again, if you don’t like it.” Isolda says getting on her knees and pleading, not ashamed that she was causing a scene in public, you sigh but smile “Okay just this once.” you say defeated Isolda stands up and pulls you into a hug and spins you around. “Ahahaha- I can’t wait me and Galia have gone to a lot of them but you’ve never come to one and this one is special because it’s a bit more fancy, because there’s a really popular live band playing tonight.” Isolda says “Supposedly fancy, but everyone loses their class when the clock strikes midnight.” Galia says sarcastically. You continue to talk until you all finish your breakfast. 

On the walk back to the cat you feel the heart begin to beat quickly and then you hear your mom's voice “You’ll never truly be alone. I’ll always be with you, someone will always be with you”   
The heart goes still and you wonder if you accidentally squeezed it so you squeeze the heart again but it’s surprisingly silent except for the heartbeat of a rune nearby. You stop and look at the factory building next to you “Oh that's where the party is tonight.” Isolda says pointing at the building you were already looking at “(YN) is something wrong?” Isolda says noticing the serious look on your face “Yeah, I just thought the building looked interesting.” You say with a smile, and continue walking with the group. When you arrived to the cat you and the group went down to the dressing and bathing areas where it seemed that just about every other employee of the cat was getting ready to attend the party tonight “Isolda, Galia you guys are coming tonight right?” A girl you sometimes saw hanging around Isolda said “Yeah we’re super excited to go!” Isolda responded cheerfully, the girl looked at you “(YN) are you coming too?” said the girl, you felt a little guilty now for not knowing her name “Yeah it’ll be my first party.” You say happily the girl smiled “Well I’ll see you there.” the girl says with a big smile, when she was out of ear shot you whispered “Is it bad that I don’t know her name?” Galia snorted and Isolda looks at you trying not to laugh “Her name is Vanora she’s a few years younger than me but she’s always so cheery it’s hard to imagine that she’s actually older than you. She’s a good person, I think she also said she had the night classes. Maybe you two could be friends.” Isolda says emphasizing the word friends “Yeah, maybe.” You say humoring her.

The dress was strapless and long, the corset like pattern on the back gave it just the right amount of appeal, it wasn’t flashy or frilly, it was simple, your favorite color and yet there was an elegance to it that made you question whether this is what you wanted to wear “I can’t wear this.” You said out loud in defeat “You look great, is it too long?” Isolda asked sporting a similar style dress with a much more vibrant color and shorter skirt “No! If the skirt was any shorter I’d be too embarrassed, it’s flowy enough to move around in, it just isn’t me or I feel out of place in it.” You say sadly “No!” Galia Isolda and Vanora said together “(YN) you look beautiful, please don’t change.” Vanora said in her angelic voice ‘She’s so nice I didn’t even know her name until about an hour ago’ “Vanora is right.” Isolda adds and Galia nodded in agreement, Galia wore a dress shirt and pants, you sighed “Okay, you guys win only because Galia is also dressed up.” The girls laughed and you all walked out of the cat together, the sun was already setting in the sky, Galia and Isolda walked ahead and you and Vanora stayed in the back chatting.

When you got to the warehouse the place was packed, and you heard a band playing in front, workers rushed passed you with drinks and in the middle couples danced and by the bar people drank. “(NN), me and Galia are going to dance, are you alright here?” Isolda asked already dragging Galia towards the dance floor, you nodded “Don’t worry Isolda I’ll watch out for her.” Vanora said putting her hand on your shoulders, you were surprised she stuck around, with so many other girls from the cat at the party you thought Vanora would have left. Isolda smiled and you and Vanora went to the bar and sat together on one seat, Vanora ordered herself a drink which the bartender gave her for free she offered you one “No, I don’t really drink.” you say politely “Okay, I understand.” She says with a smile “Isolda says you’re taking the night classes too?” You ask curiously “Yup, I’m extremely excited to start next week.” Vanora says happily “Me too, I guess we’ll be classmates.” You say and Vanora jumps happily in her seat. You two continue to talk and laugh, Vanora was nice to be around she was one of those people that you felt like you’d known forever, you almost forgot about the rune, you were going to go check but Vanora quickly brought you back to the conversation “Hey, look behind me to the right by the pillar, don’t make it obvious but that guy keeps looking at you, and he’s pretty cute.” You look to where she was talking about and saw an extremely gorgeous guy leaning on a pillar with a drink, he was maybe only a year or two older than you, he had dark black hair and dark brown eyes, his skin was a light olive color, he was well dressed and looked well spoken for, you must have been staring too long because he smiled at you and you quickly looked away turning red “(NN)! He totally saw you checking him out!” Vanora said trying not to laugh “I wasn’t checking him out!” You say defensively, but Vanora just laughs “I’m going to the bathroom.” You say defeated “Sounds good I’m going to find a cute boy as well on the dance floor, meet me in the middle when you’re done” Vanora says and you both get up and go your separate ways. The bathroom was weirdly clean and even the couple kissing in the hallway outside respected the space you pressed the heart, and heart the beat of the rune somewhere in the factory, “Choose your battles wisely love, it’s okay to enjoy yourself.” your mother’s voice said, you were happy to hear it after she had gone quite in the afternoon, you sighed and figured she was right. You walked out of the bathroom and scanned the area, the dance floor was packed “Hey, I hope you don’t mind but your friend Vanora told me I’d find you here.” The man Vanora pointed out stood in front of you he was even more gorgeous up close “I don’t mind.” You say a little too quickly, he chuckles a bit “Would you like to dance?” He asked, his voice was mesmerizing, he held out his hand and you nodded, taking his hand and letting him lead you onto the floor, the band started playing a slow song and he held you close, you were surprised but you smiled “I came for the band, I love the way they play and their singer her voice it speaks to me, as silly as that sounds.” He says with a soft laugh, you close your eyes and listen to the singer, he was right her voice was enchanting, when you opened your eyes he was smiling at you “Do you like it?” he ask “Yes. I’ve never listened to a band live before.” You say, you danced together for two more songs and then he looked at you “I think your friends are calling you over.” He says pointing behind you his voice was so warm and calming, you turn around and see Isolda pointing at the door and Vanora winking Galia is sporting a smirk “I need to go!” You say quickly “I’m sorry and thank you I had an amazing time, what’s your name?” You asked quickly realizing you never asked “Oktai.” He responds quickly you smile and start weaving through the crowd “Wait what’s yours?” He yells after you but the crowd had already swallowed him up. “Who was that?” Isolda asks with a smile “No one.” You say defensively “Wish I could find myself a no one.” Vanora says the girls laugh “Well sorry for pulling you away it’s just really late, and we were worried, we can stay if you want.” Isolda says “No it’s fine lets head back to the Cat.” You say and when you exit the factory you can’t help but look back and smile. 

When you got to the cat Vanora and Galia headed off to their rooms and you and Isolda walked to yours “I think I’m going to stay in Galia’s room for the night, since we start late tomorrow and you know keep the party rolling.” Isolda says with a playful wink, and you laugh, she goes quiet and looks at you seriously “Thank you for coming out with us all day I know it was a little out of your comfort zone in the end but it was nice to spend the whole day with the two people in the world I love the most and it was nice to see you hanging out with Vanora and see you dancing with that very cute guy, I almost wanted to leave you there.” She says playfully and hugs you “I love you Isolda you know you’re more than just a friend to me. You practically raised me.” You say hugging her back, she laughs “If I had anything to do with the person you are today then I have given the world so much more than what I ever thought I did.” She says in a somber voice she pulls away and looks as if she was going to say something, she seemed to be thinking of something “Don’t forget to take the ribbon out of your hair, or you’ll have a knot in your hair tomorrow, now goodnight (NN).” Isolda says with her motherly look that you’ve seen so many times before waving and walking away you whisper yell down the hall “Goodnight, Isolda.” She doesn’t look back but you know she’s smiling. You got into bed excited for the first time in many nights, you had a fun day and you remembered your conversation with Isolda and decided that you were ready to talk to him when you awoke in the void you ran out of your room and found him in the gold room looking out into the void. You came up from behind and hugged him you felt his body soften “I missed you.” You say “Really?” He says in an almost shy voice “Yes, did you miss me?” He smiles at your question “Always, I spend most of my time watching you, if the world ever ends I won’t notice until the chaos gets to you too.” He says running his thumb across your cheek, you smile and then remember the dance with Oktai “The dance was that okay?” You say worried it looked as if something else was going on “Of course, I want you to live your life and have fun but if you’re asking if I was jealous, I was, only because I wish that could have been me, I wish I could leave the void, I wish I could be dancing with you.” He says trying not to show the hurt “I don’t care that you can’t really leave this place but who says that we can’t dance.” You say teleporting away from him and to the record player in the room, but there was no record, he teleports to you and hands you a record that he acquired from thin air, you give him a funny look but put the record in. The voice of the singer from earlier comes through the record, her voice fills the void like a glove and he takes your hand and the two of you begin to dance in the room. You look at him and the feeling that filled you was different from what you felt dancing with Oktai, what you felt with the Outsider without a doubt was love “I need to tell you something but first you need to tell me the truth, what’s going on you keep going quite randomly? And don’t lie to me, I know something is going on, and it hurts that you don’t tell me because I feel like you don’t trust me.” You say still dancing along with him he looks at you with sad eyes and then gives you a small smile “Okay, and please don’t ever think I don’t trust you.” He says sighing then looks at you and pulls you closer, you can’t see his face anymore but the two of you continue to dance and he begins to speak again “In the coming weeks, someone is going to try to kill me, and depending on the choices they make, they almost surely will succeed.” You stop dancing and he does too, you look at him “What? Can someone actually do that” You ask, too distraught to think anything else “Yes, they can, and if they do succeed I want you to move on and be happy, find someone like that boy, someone you can actually love and hold.” He says with a desperate look, you put your arms around him quickly “Stop, you don’t get to make that choice for me, no matter what happens I love you please don’t say things like that. You can stop them, you can do anything. I’ll help, I’ll get to them”-”No!” He cut you off and looked you in the eyes and then held you close again “You can’t get involved, I won’t ever let you risk yourself for me because I love you too, and maybe it’s my time. I’ve been the god of the void for so long, maybe it’s time I left this place, maybe they’re right and I’ve done more bad then good for this world. There were other gods before me and there will be another after me in time and maybe they will be better. I won’t stop them, if they come, I can’t.” He says patting your head and then kissing your forehead “Promise me right now, that you won’t push me away because of this, promise me that you’ll stay by me, you said they might not succeed so don’t worry about this. Please let’s just enjoy these moments, no more secrets okay, Promise me?” You say looking up at him, he gives you a sad smile “Okay, I promise.” He says lifting your chin and kissing you slowly.

You laid on top of him in bed, he combed through your hair with his hands “You’re the only home I’ve ever known (YN).” He says looking at the ceiling “You’re my home too, don’t ever underestimate the space you occupy in my heart.” You say unbuttoning his shirt to kiss his chest, he smiles. “I never used to mark people when I first became what I am, in the early days I watched the slums they took me from until the very last person I knew died. After I spent many years doing this.” He says sticking his hand up and waving it in one quick swift motion, the ceiling and walls disappeared and in its place a dark empty void you looked at him confused and he pointed back at the ceiling and slowly the void lit up with lights, stars, more than you’d ever seen all around you, the walls and ceiling lit up and you watched them in awe “I’d watch the night sky from the most remote parts of the world, I’ve seen so many beautiful things in so many beautiful places but it’s taken me until this very moment to finally love something and the void had nothing to do with it.” He says kissing you passionately, you fall back against the bed and focus on everything around you, you wanted to memorize every inch of this moment and live in it forever, and when it was over you wanted to always come back here, and be home. When he entered you it was different than the first, it wasn’t just the two of you fumbling around anymore you were one and moved together in sync without needing to talk. You knew that you were asleep but your mind and body belonged to the void and therefore to him and in that moment you felt more alive than you ever did anywhere else, you found your home right there in his arms, he lived in your heart and you lived in his. When you both finished you put your arms around him and kissed his neck, he laughed, “You aren’t tired?” He asked “I’m sleeping right now and in this moment I’ve never been more awake.” You say kissing him and you feel the corners of his lips form a smile before he started kissing you back. You stop and hug him holding him close and cradling his head, you close your eyes and when you look up, you see her “Isolda?” You ask quickly pulling away from his embrace and getting out of the covers and he follows you out of the bed and stands behind you, he holds your hand. Isolda notices and smiles “I see now.” She says sounding genuinely happy “How did you get here?” You ask, she smiles but looks at him “Take care of her.” She says in a serious tone and walks forward. The heart lifts up and Isolda glows, you watched as the heart beats and then she places her hand on it, a hole appears straight through it, she stops glowing and places the heart to her eye, she looks through it and smiles. You don’t understand you just watch her, she places a hand on your cheek and gives you her motherly smile, and then she fades away. You turn around in a panic and look at him “What’s going on? What just happened?” You say pleading with him, he finally looks at you and just holds you close. The emotions in the void were overwhelming and you begin to cry, without a reason. Somewhere else you hear someone calling your name and pulling you out of the void. You open your eyes and see Vanora but she didn’t look like her normal cheery self. “(YN), Isolda.” She says unavailable to get the words out, you can tell she’s in shock “Isolda jumped from the rooftop this morning you as the sun was rising, she didn’t make it.” She says with a lump in her throat towards the end, she’s hugging you but you can’t feel her arms, you feel her shaking and crying but you can’t hear her anymore. 

You were back in the void, he was waiting for you “You knew! You must have known and you kept it from me!” You yelled blasting wind at him but he stayed still taking every gust that came at him. “(YN).” He whispered it and it seemed to echo over the non existent walls, there was nothing around you except the cat in the distance, the vast emptiness of the void surrounded you and the two of you stood on a single platform, the water around you was black and the sky a sickly gray. You thought about what the two of you had been doing just a few hours ago and all the times he’d gone quiet throughout the week, the anger filled you even more “You knew! You lied! You just promised me no more secrets!” The wind that left you made you stumble and this time it knocked him down, he didn’t move, he tried to speak but he couldn’t “She was like family! She was the only family I had left! You knew she mattered to me, she meant everything to me!” The last part came out as more of a plead “I trusted you, we could have stopped this, we could have changed this, what are you good for if you won’t even help me, you can stop horrible things from happening and you do nothing! Any other human would have said something if they knew someone was in trouble, but that’s the thing isn’t it, you’re not even really human anymore you wouldn’t understand what it’s like to lose someone because you’ve never cared about anyone or anything!” You regretted the words just as you said them but it was too late, you didn’t know if it was your imagination but the void seemed darker now he gets up but doesn’t look at you “So in the end you’re just like all the others, you want me to use my foresight to help you lead a good life, to help you cheat. Any human wouldn’t have told you, because they wouldn’t have known. You needed to use the powers of a god to know the fate of your friend, you all think it’s easy to know what I know and see what I see, I never asked to be like this! In the end, even you just wanted me around to benefit your life, what would you have done once your life was perfect would you still need me, just incase things got bad?” His voice was dark and almost malevolent “It’s not like that, this would have been a one time thing.” You say defending yourself he walks closer to you “Would it have? It always starts that way and eventually it’s only human nature to always want to be safe and sure, to always want more.” He said his voice was cold and harsh “No.” You said in a barely audible whisper “It’s not like that, you don’t understand!” You say forcing the words out and for the first time since meeting him you were afraid, he laughs “Of course, it’s not like I was human at some point it’s not like I’ve ever had emotions? How could I ever understand?” He said in a loud tone but you knew he was hurt “Outsider, please.” For a moment he looks at you softly “I was a fool to think this could ever work, I promised myself I’d never look at your future, because I was too involved in it, therefore I never saw into your future or the future of the people around you, I wanted to experience normality with you. I wanted to do my best to be normal for you, for us.” You realize what he was saying and you begin to walk over to him but his expression grew more serious than ever before “But that’s over now, I could never be enough for you, you could never love me forever and after I saw the way you danced with that man tonight I realized I could never give you the life you actually want. I could never truly be with you.” He says in an almost monotone voice “Stop don’t say that, you never know what will happen next for us. I should have trusted you. It’s just you seemed so quiet and like you wanted to tell me something and I thought you knew, I thought it was more then the people who were after you. Please look at me, talk to me.” You grab his arm but he teleports away “I don’t know our future, but I know my own, and either way my time with you here is over, goodbye (YN).” You try to walk towards him and hold him once more but it was too late he was already gone. You fall to your knees and cry out into the void but he didn’t come back, around you the cat began to collapse and crumble, once the void around you was nothing but rubble you truly realized that you were completely alone. When you woke up Vanora was asleep cradling you but you got up and ran passed her and into the courtyard, the courtesans were crying around a splatter of dried blood, and had flowers and candles already set up, it was already night, and at the entrance you saw Galia with a single bag she looked back at you and when a carriage passed in front of her she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll talk more about this chapter at the start of the next one


	8. The Month Of Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I always wanted Isolda to be a reference to the hearts quote in the first game about one of the courtesans. There's a lot of references throughout the story like that. I love the hearts whispers in both games and the Hallows in the DLC of DOTH if I ever directly quote them they'll have an asterisk but for the most part I'll write my own Hallows and whispers <3

“No one will blame you if you took the first week off, it’s only been a week since.” Vanora went quiet “She wouldn’t want me to stop living my life because of her.” You say getting dressed for school, Vanora gave you a sympathetic smile. You were grateful to have her around, Vanora confessed that the day after your birthday Isolda had asked her to watch out for you and be your friend, and Vanora took it upon herself to grant Isolda’s wish, even before she passed, you respected her honesty and even asked her to move in with you a few days ago, she moved in that same day, and although the times had been hard, and you felt more alone in the world than ever before; in the span of just a week Vanora and you became inseparable and she went through great efforts to keep you smiling and the least you thought you could do was return the smile. “Come on we’ll be late to the first day of class.” You say putting on a brave face and she happily followed you out the door. The walk to the school was quiet the sun was still high in the sky but not for much longer. Since Isolda passed you hadn’t seen Galia, she left a note for you, with the madam after resigning, that night. She had told the madam there was nothing left for her at the cat and that she was going back to her old job. Ronaldo pleaded with her but Galia wouldn’t hear it and she left. When the madam gave you the note she told you that she blamed herself in some way, she was planning on having Isolda retire as a courtesan, but only because she wanted her to be her successor, the madam had no daughters and Isolda was the oldest and most loyal of the courtesans. When the madam told you, you excused yourself and she understood, you ripped up Galia’s letter when you got to your room, she made her choice. You donated a lot of Isolda’s clothes but you kept all the ribbons she always loved to put in your hair. Every night you traveled to the void and you’d cry out but the sky was a sickly gray and there were no buildings just emptiness. You hadn’t used the heart or your powers, and you’d also began to notice that his mark seemed to be fading from your hand; with Vanora being your new roommate you stopped sneaking out at night or in the morning so you wouldn’t worry her. You tried to forget him but every night you woke up in the void. “Hey (NN), is everything okay? Do you need to sit? Or?” Vanora said putting her hands on your shoulders “Yes, I’m just thinking about everything that’s happened.” You say waving away your thoughts, she gave you an empathetic smile “I’d offer to take you back to the cat and just hide out in our rooms but you already told me you didn’t wanna stop living, and that Isolda wouldn’t want you to either so I will take full responsibility to get you to class even if we get there tomorrow.” Vanora says giving you one of her award winning smiles and you both continue walking at a faster pace now.

When you got to the school you were surprised to see just how many girls and teachers there were, you and Vanora had the same schedule, everyday the same teacher taught the same subjects. When you got to your class you and Vanora sat in the corner at the front of the class closest to the teachers desk in a table for two. “Our teacher is Mr. Khulan? Do you think he’ll be young or old? Married, single, children?” Vanora says dramatically making you laugh “I guess we’ll just have to see won’t we?” You say smiling, you had been looking forward to these classes for a long time. Just as you and Vanora finished taking out your supplies your teacher walks in and the two of you immediately lock eyes but he focuses on addressing the class “I’m Mr. Khulan, but we’re all around the same age so please call me Oktai, I’ll be teaching you some basic things to help you move further up in the world, and I hope that one day you all will teach me something new.” He says walking over to his desk and setting up, when he walks to the back of the class to start a projection Vanora looks at you and mouths “Is that the guy from-” You didn’t let her finish you just nodded your head. Oktai taught his lesson effortlessly and kept you and everyone in the class engaged, the way he explained the history of the world felt so personal and you listened carefully, towards the end of the class he asked questions about what you covered through the whole class and when it was time to hand in the questions to him he came around the class collecting the papers he looked at your answers which were on the table, you had your marked hand next to your paper, you didn’t realize it until it was too late he touched the mark “Interesting.” He said collecting the answers from your table “What did you write for your answers?” Vanora asked thinking your answers prompted his comment “Nothing special.” You said. As you and Vanora got up to leave Oktai called out to you before you could leave the class “(YN) would it be okay if I asked you to stay for a little while. There’s some things I want to discuss with you.” You looked at Vanora “I’ll see you back at the cat.” You said reassuring her and she gave you a semi concerned look, like she wasn’t sure if leaving you was a good idea but she smiled, nodded and left. Your heart began to beat quickly, you’d been reckless, you stopped bandaging your hand since Isolda passed. Vanora never asked, and you thought it had faded enough for no one to really notice what it was, but a part of you didn’t care who saw your mark anymore, but obviously you cared and you knew he’d seen the mark when he walked passed to check your work, you walk towards him “Don’t be nervous let me see.” He says taking your hand in his and pushing back your sleeve “The Outsiders mark, when and how did you get this? So you’ve seen him?” He says sounding genuinely curious but you rolled your eyes not at his questions but because you didn’t want to talk about him after what happened between the two of you, he laughs a little and puts a hand on your shoulder “I won’t tell anyone, I’m a man of knowledge, not faith I only wish to know more about the world around us.” He says, he seemed sincere “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you it’s just I don’t want to talk about someone or something I thought I knew and apparently didn’t.” You say sounding more upset than you meant to sound, he leans back against his desk “I see.” He says and then he begins to roll up the sleeve of his shirt revealing the mark of the overseer “I guess we were both marked by things we didn’t fully understand.” He says in a calming voice, you felt like you could trust him, he looked at you tenderly and smiled “Would you like to get dinner?” His question seemed so disconnected it brought you out of your daze completely but you smiled a true genuine smile, for the first time since everything “Sure.”

“So why did you run off after our dance the other night? I honestly never thought I’d see you again, I especially didn’t imagine that we’d meet again like this.” He says with his kind voice “I didn’t realize how late it was, until I saw my friends calling for me and honestly it was my first dance, I was overwhelmed, we left right after.” You said twirling your fork around your meal “To be honest it was my first dance too, I’d been to concerts but nothing so loud before, parties like that aren’t really something I like.” He said you looked up and smiled, you felt yourself turn red but he just smiled “I guess, we’ll be seeing each other a lot more now.” you say tucking your hair behind your ear, he gave a quick sharp laugh “I guess so.” He says with a flirty look on his face. “So how did you get this job so young? Most of the other teachers I saw were very old.” You ask curiously, he laughs and then gets serious “The truth is I’m actually 800 years old.” He says with confidence, you smirk “Hmph, I’ve dated older.” You say with a big grin and you both start laughing, but you stop when you realize how much fun you were having “Hey what’s wrong?” He says reaching over the table and putting a hand on your shoulder. You sigh to try and keep yourself composed, maybe it was your loneliness and that even with Vanora the past week had felt like an eternity, but something inside you trusted him “My fr-sister died last week, and I can’t help but feel guilty for enjoying myself right now.” You say a part of you finally felt good to be able to open up about it, he removed his hand and lifted your face up and gave you a smile before putting his hands back at his side “Believe it or not I understand, I lost my uncle who was practically a father to me, he was High overseer Yul Khulan. It’s actually because of him that I got this job so easily and at my age.” He seemed to think a little and then continued “He put me into training to be an overseer but I never came around to it, I always wanted to be a scholar, and he knew that. When the attack on Dunwall was being planned to liberate it from the witches he told me he asked an old friend to take me under his wing and train me to be a teacher and scholar. He died in the tower along with many other overseers, I worked hard to get here, he let me choose my own path, he would want me to be happy just like I’m sure your sister would want you to be happy.” He says, a tear falls from your cheek but you smile “Thank you.” You say holding his hand and he gives you an empathetic smile. The rest of the dinner went well you discussed topics you’d covered in class and then finally he gave you a curious look and he leans in closer to you “So the mark is said to give you powers, would you ever show me what you can do?” He says the last part coming off slightly more flirtatious and you decide to play along “Take me back to your place and I’ll show you.” You say in your most enticing voice he smirks and flags down the waitress to pay and end the meal.

When you arrive in the hall of his apartment building, you stop him before he can put his keys in the door, you lower his hand and place your marked hand on the door, your mark begins to glow and get dark again, then you both hear the door unlocking, when it opens you let yourself in and use your finger to invite him in, after you he smirks and follows you in closing the door behind him. You asked him to come closer, and let him lean in, you felt his breath on your lips and before he could get any closer to you, you teleported behind him and you laugh when he stumbles forward “How did you?” He says embarrassed, you teleport in front of him “You said you wanted to know what I could do?” You say with confidence, he smiles but you see him turning red and you laugh a little. “What?” He asks flustered “You’re just really cute.” You say with a smile “Compliment me all you want, I’ll still fail you if you don’t do well.” He says going to his cupboard and grabbing a drink, you laugh “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” The two of you continue to talk and sit at his dinner table “If you didn’t want to be an overseer why did you ever become one?” You ask, he looks at you and gives a small smile “I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine, deal?” He says you think it over “Deal.” He pours himself another drink “The high overseer when I was a kid was Campbell, my parents were accused of being heretics under his ruling, they were killed a few months after the queens death, I was 7, the overseers took me away after. Then when my uncle saw me among the young potential overseers a few years later he was just as shocked as I was, he apologized for years wishing he could have stopped it. I was only 7 but that was more than old enough to participate in the trials of aptitude, I wasn’t even the youngest boy there. Many potential prospects are the children of “heretics” we were all orphans, no thanks to them, and no one looked for us, after our abductions we’re marked and put to the test to become the very same people who killed our parents.” He grabs his mark and then takes a drink before continuing “My uncle never believed in the idea of executing “heretics” but he never spoke out against it especially not back then. I don’t think he ever wanted that life for me and I think he knew my parents didn’t want that for me either, his final ruling as high overseer was to set me free and let me live the life I chose. I found out later on that my parents were killed because my mother rejected a guards advances and he was so infuriated he claimed they were followers of the outsider.” He sighed but gave you a sad forced smile “I’m sorry I never actually told anyone that story until now.” He says finally composed, you put your hands across the table and take his hand in yours, he smiles “Now it’s your turn, why don’t you like talking about the outsider? Did he forcefully mark you?” He asks, you sigh and pour yourself a drink in his cup and drink it, he smiles at this and you begin to tell him “He didn’t force his mark on me, he always asks the people if they want his mark before marking them.” You pause and he squeezes your hand and you give a shy smile before continuing “I really trusted him, he saved me and he knew my grandmother, and he really helped her when he marked her and because of that she was able to care for my father. In a way he saved me before I was even born, he was very special to me and I thought I mattered to him also, but he’s recently left me alone when I needed him the most.” You feel the heart give a single beat and you take it out of your shirt “What is that?” He ask curiously you take it off for the first time and hand it to him “It’s a type of bonecharm or something, the outsider gave it to me, it lets me see runes, it talks to me and it can do something else when I look through the centerpiece but I don’t know what yet.” You say watching him inspect the heart, he hands it back to you “Try looking through it now, lets see what happens.” you shrug and put it around your neck and you look through it and then you notice the bottle phasing in and out of existence, you gasp a little and you stick your hand out and then the heart beats once and you hear his voice “When I’m gone I hope she has someone else to hold her, don’t let her go, make her forget me.” You feel a lump form in your throat and you quickly collect your things and get up “(YN) what’s wrong what did you see.” He says holding your unmarked hand you use the marked one to blow open his balcony doors and he lets you go stepping back, but he seems more hurt than afraid, he looks at you with a caring face “Let me at least walk you home it’s late.” He says attempting to walk towards you again you teleport onto his balcony railing “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Khulan.” You say without looking back at him and you quickly teleport away in the direction of the cat. 

When you get into your room you hear Vanora’s soft voice “(NN) I’m glad you’re home I hope you had fun, you deserve..” She trails off more asleep than awake, she’s still dressed in her clothes ‘She must have waited for me as long as she could.’ You think covering her with her blanket, she doesn’t even stir. You get ready for bed and lie on your back thinking about the day, you look through the heart and notice the clock Vanora has moving, you walk towards it “For the first time ever, I don’t feel like I have enough time. All the time I’ve existed in and my time with her was the only one that made a difference.” You wrap your arms around yourself “So why are you wasting the time that we still have ignoring me.” You whisper to yourself hoping he’d be around to hear but the silence of the night is deafening and you feel tears roll down your cheek. You crawl into bed and fall asleep. The void you wake up in, has never been the same since that day, it’s dark and empty, and the sky is a dark sick gray. You see the occasional whale in the sky all the way in the distance and you call out for him like you’ve been doing every day since then but you’re met with nothing but silence. You walk into the dark water lay in it floating, the void used to feel like your home but without him the void felt like a stranger now. You let yourself fall into the water deeper and deeper, but you didn’t drown the darkness swallowed you and you closed your eyes and let it pull you in deeper. When you open your eyes the sun is coming in through your room, Vanora is looking at you with an odd look “(NN) were you so tired last night that you showered and then go straight to bed?” Vanora said giggling a little and pointing at you, you look at her funny but then you feel water on your face, and you reach for your hair and it’s soaked. You’re wide awake now from the shock and feel your clothes sticking to your body and you get up but your bed is hardly wet, Vanora notices too “Did you just take a shower, your beds hardly wet but you’re soaked! But hey that’s one way to start the morning, super refreshing.” Vanora says not realizing just how surprised you are, so you play along and laugh “I’m going to shower too, and then go to breakfast, I’ll see you down there in a few minutes.” Vanora says grabbing her things and closing the door behind her. You stay frozen for a bit and then freak out “What in the actual void!?” You say looking at your clothes and hair in the mirror. You take the heart out and feel it beating rapidly ‘What’s going on?’ You wonder and you squeeze the heart “The void is leaking into your world in more ways than one and you’re in the middle of it. Your connection to the void is stronger than ever before.” Your mother’s voice says, you slide down against the wall and onto the floor ‘Why? And what does this mean?” You think to yourself and sit defeated for a moment, until finally collecting yourself and getting dressed. When you were going to leave the room you feel the heart give a single beat and you put it up to your eye and scan the room you see the window look open even though it’s closed you walk closer to it “She can see it all. The Void breaking and spreading through all the cracks, like seawater sinking an old ship*.” His voice says and then you turn and see one of Isolda’s dresses on Venora's bed phase in and out you walk towards it “"All the old boundaries are falling apart. Between the living and the dead, the real and the forgotten. She watches them crumbling.*” You can’t take it you begin to see the mirror break and then look normal again “She’s everywhere now. Every inch of her haunts me. Everyone is capable of leaving marks that won’t fade.” His voice sounds heartbroken, you open the window and teleport away ‘If I don’t get air I’ll go mad.’ But you feel the heart give another beat and you scan the world around you and see the places where the void is leaking through all around you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you guys I'd get better at posting! Anyways Galia and Ronaldo are actually canon characters so is the Madam and Yul Khulan. I try to stay as true to the lore as possible and I found out after introducing Galia that she actually dies in between the events of DOTH and the second game so I just wrote her off :c Oktai and Vanora are OC's though, Oktai is like the MC related to a canon character. Vanora and Isolda are the wild random OC's. Anyways I'll see you guys on the flipside if you guys have questions or comments they are all welcome always <3


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